The Scarlet Letter: Stigma, Shame, and the Systems That Mark Us

The Scarlet Letter might not feel like a Halloween story. There are no ghosts, no Gothic mansions. Sometimes, though, the banality of a hell is still a hell. Hawthorne’s world is one of polite systems that confuse shame for morality and call it order. Modern healthcare has its own versions of that. Providers get branded “difficult,” “too idealistic,” or “not a team player.” And yet, like Hester Prynne, many stay. Not to defend the system, but to redeem what’s still good inside it… the quiet, stubborn act of care that changes what the letter means.