Characters lose their innocence through American literature. What exactly does “losing one’s innocence” mean? Losing one's innocence can be seen as character maturation. A character can lose their innocence, especially when watching a traumatic event, especially one that will mark their life forever. The loss of one's innocence can also be caused by losing faith in someone she once trusted, by a glimpse of the "real world", or by performing an immoral act. The recurring theme of loss of innocence, as it appears in American literature and reality, can affect a person and the people around them both negatively and positively. As a result, the audience can see the characters mature by losing all hope of dreams, becoming an outcast from society, gaining a new perspective of ideas, or gaining confidence. Both negative and positive effects, affecting characters due to a loss of innocence, can be found in works such as The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men and The Hunger Games; This theme can also be seen in real life through the effects of children exposed to violent video games. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's act of adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 231) ultimately leads to both negative and positive impacts on her life, including being isolated from everyone in town, taunting and gossiping, being more mature and more compassionate. One of the negative effects of the loss of innocence on Hester is that she finds herself isolated from everyone in the town. Hawthorne describes Hester: In all her dealings with society, however, nothing gave her the feeling of belonging to it. Every gesture, every word, and even ...... middle of paper ...... neighbor (Lee 321). She understands that she must follow Atticus' advice and not pass judgment on others because she does not know any of their backgrounds. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1995. Print. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The scarlet letter. New York: Random House, Inc., 2000. Print. Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. Print. Narvaez, Darcia. “Playing violent video games: good or bad? » Psychology today. Sussex Publishers. November 9, 2010. The web. April 15, 2014. .Steinbeck, John. Of mice and men. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1993. Print. The Hunger Games. Real. Gary Ross. Perf. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Willow Shields and Amandla Stenberg. Lionsgate, 2012. Movie.