The Scarlet Letter: Ways People Are Punished Many criminals today serve their time in prison and are then set free. Most of them go on to commit other crimes, without learning the lesson their punishment was meant to teach. the worst punishment possible is torture and to live with ones own guilt. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is punished by having to stnd on a scaffold for three hours and having to wear a scarlet letter on her breast. After a while she feels no guilt and goes on about her life. People in the community forget about it too. Roger Chillingsworth asks, "Is Hester Prynne