. How does Melinda react to the symbols in the Scarlet Letter, especially the reference to Hester’s A? What do you think this reveals about Melinda

Melinda feels that she can relate to Hester Prynne. Like Hester, Melinda feels marginalized and disenfranchised from the other students. She secretly wears her trauma and feels stigmatized by it. Although Melinda was not an adulterer, she sees the sense of sexual "sin" in what happened to her.