Hester's new persona

From the chapter we read in class today, we got to see that as 7 years have passed since Hester stood on that pedestal holding her "sin" in her arms, the community that cast her out and take all normalcy out of her life, has come to forgive her. To the community, Hester's scarlet "A" is not clear, its seen as a sign that she is indeed different from others, but it is seen in a positive way, compared to the cross around the neck of a nun. Hester is a symbol of almost saintly status from what I got from the text, of course she sinned in the eyes of her people, but in comparison to the average person, her deeds towards the poor, sick, and afflicted place her on a higher moral standard in my eyes. I am no where sure of this, but while reading this, I felt that Hawthorne was pressing his transcendentalist ideologies because the concept of being accepted by God after a sin without going directly through the church is tradition of the Catholic and Puritan sects of Christianity, but her good deeds and love for her child seem to make me think Hawthorne is leaning towards the forgiveness from God that is preached in new Christian sects. I think the point of this chapter was to show that Hester is not looked down upon in her community, but is seen as a person who cares and tends to the people that need it, not a sinful woman deserving isolation.