Do you like the characters or care about them? Why or why not?

I suppose the only real sympathetic characters are Hester and Pearl. I guess also Dimmesdale depending how you see things. I think we care about these characters because of the hypocrisy and Puritan insanity that is hoisted upon these people for simply being alive and human. They are better examples of compassion and godly devotion than the people who seek to punish them.