The Scarlet Letter: How are Life's Lessons Learned? There are two sides of consequences for almost everything that happens in life, directly or indirectly. In life, we could learn mostly from the consequences, rather than from the punishments of our actions. If the consequences are good, we know that the action should be repeated, sometimes. If bad consequences outweigh the good, we know repeating would not be wise. Hester Prynne of Nataniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, learns from punishment and the consequences of adultery, but from which does she learn more from? Punishment from