A Modern Day Hester Prynne; "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

<Tab/>A Modern Day Hester Prynne <Tab/> <Tab/>The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines shunning as "to avoid deliberately and especially habitually." This narrow definition doesn't begin to cover how those who have been shunned probably feel. To be shunned is to be completely shut out from your society, leaving you surrounded by people but still alone. Shunning was very important in Puritan society to …

…could before they were shunned. <Tab/>Tobacco companies have been shunned because their behavior deviates from what we consider acceptable. Cigarette makers have lied and intentionally endangered the health of their customers. As a result, they have been shunned from our society. Their products have been branded with a surgeon general's warning, warning that smoking may cause lung cancer, which may be a cigarette boxes equivalent to a scarlet letter A.