The Scarlet Letter
1. The story starts of at the jail where Hester Prynne is
being set free before she has to parade through town with her daughter Pearl.
Hester was in jail for adultery and the baby in her arms in the biggest proof. Hester’s
husband had been gone for two years, so in his absence she fell in love with Minister
Dimmesdale and had an affair with him. For her sin she is forced to wear a
scarlet letter A on her chest. Hester protects her daughter’s father so he
won’t be punished. Throughout the novel she keeps his name a secret. Things get
complicated when her husband, who was said to be dead, comes back in disguise
to find the man she cheated on him with. He goes around saying he’s a physician
named Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth notices right away that Mr.Dimmensdale
is probably Pearl’s father. Even with the constant questions and examinations
from Chillingworth, Mr.Dimmensdale doesn’t speak up. Seven years pass and
Hester notices that Chillingworth, her husband, has been messing with her
lover’s head. She finally decides to tell Mr.Dimmensdale the truth about her
husband and they decide to run away with Pearl to England. Mr.Dimmensdale ends
up backing up and says the truth to the whole town in the same place where
Hester was humiliated seven years before after coming out of jail. He also
shows them the scar on his chest in the shape of an A. Time for a happy ending?
Will Hester and Mr.Dimmensdale be able to enjoy their love or will they suffer
the consequences? What about little Pearl she’s only 7? Want to know what
happens next? Read The Scarlet Letter I promise you won’t regret it!
2. In the Scarlet Letter there can be multiple themes. I
think the two main themes are love and fear. Love is obvious to find throughout the book.
Hester and Mr.Dimmesdale secretly falling in love and having an affair from
which Pearl was born is the biggest sign of love. Hester never revealed the
name of her daughter’s father to keep him safe. Everything things she did was
out of love either to Mr.Dimmesdale or Pearl. Fear can be interpreted in
various ways. Fear of society, of the unknown, or of being different. In a
society where everyone watches what you do and judges you for your mistakes there’s
a lot to fear. Mr.Dimmesdale was scared of what could happen to him and Hester
if people knew the truth about their affair. Hester not naming her child’s
father wasn’t just out of love for him, but out of fear of the consequences. In
some cases, like this one, fear and love accompany each other.
3. To be honest the reason I chose this book was because I
kind of saw my name on it. I didn’t know which book to read and this was the
first thing that came to my head. I had already heard about The Scarlet Letter
by my English teacher, Mrs. Davis, last year. I thought it would be dead boing
but I was surprised to see that it can get you hooked on some parts.
4. I found this book to be quite realistic. Although the
punishments and some of the prejudices from that time don’t fit in society now,
many of the themes are still around today. For example the fear of being
different is still very common in most societies. I identified myself with
Hester in some ways. She was pointed at for being different but she was proud
to be different because the choices she made were hers and no one should have a
say.
5. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different types of tones
depending on the subject. We can first see his harsh side against Hester in
chapter 5 when he says “…their
imaginations had a story about the scarlet letter which we might readily workup
into a terrific legend…that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an
earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing
all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the nighttime…perhaps there
was more truth in the rumor than our modern incredulity may be inclined to
admit.” (Hawthorne 66) We can also see the love Hester feels for her
daughter Pearl when Hawthorne says “Beholding
it, Hester was constrained to rush towards the child,-to pursue the little elf
in the flight which she invariably began,-to snatch her to her bosom, with a
close pressure and earnest kisses,-not so much from overflowing love, as to
assure herself that Pearl was flesh and blood, and not utterly delusive.” (Hawthorne
69) At the beginning of chapter two we get a view of the Puritan Society
and the women’s criticism against other women. This happens when Hester is
walking out of the jail and the whole town is gathered to see her. “This woman has brought shame upon us all,
and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the
Scripture and the statue-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no
effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray!”
(Hawthorne 39)
6. The Scarlet Letter has many examples of literary terms
especially symbolism. Amongst those were:
1.The most obvious symbol was the
large scarlet letter A embroided on Hester’s dress. Hester was forced to wear
the letter A as a sign of her adultery. It represented shame at first, but
throughout the novel the meaning started to change. As Hester seems proud to
walk around with the scarlet A the letters starts to symbolize able and is
portrayed as a powerful identity due to her accomplishments.
“Man had
marked this woman’s sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and
disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful
as herself.” (Hawthorne 67)
2. After Hester and Arthur’s daughter is born, Pearl herself
becomes a symbol. She starts by being a symbol of Hester’s adultery and sin. She
reminds Hester of the scarlet letter constantly and leads both Hester and
Mr.Dimmesdale to admit their sin. Not only does Pearl symbolize a sin, but also
the love between her parents.
“It was meant for a
blessing for the one blessing of her life! It was meant, doubtless, as the
mother herself hath told us, for a retribution, too; a torture to be felt at
many an unthought-of moment; a pang, a sting, an ever-recurring agony, in the
midst of a troubled joy! Hath she not expressed this thought in the grab of the
poor child, so forcibly reminding us of that red symbol which sears her bosom?”
(Hawthorne 86-87)
3. The rose bushes that grow outside the jail is a metaphor
because it is trying to say that even in the coldest and darkest climates
something beautiful can blossom. Maybe it is referring to Pearl being born from
a sin. Even though adultery was an unforgiving sin little, beautiful Pearl was
born. The rose bushes could also signify hope. For example it was the middle of
winter and it was cold, but the rose bush was still alive. The rose bush could
be the little piece of hope Hester has for her love.
“This rose-bush, by a
strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but weather it has merely
urvived out of the stern old wilderness…or weather, as there is fair authority
for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Anne
Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door…It may serve, let us hope, to
symbolize some sweet moral blossom.” (Hawthorne 35-36)
4. The mark on Mr.Dimmesdale chest is a scar in the shape of
an A. Apparently Hester is not the only one with a reminder of her sinful yet
romantic love affair. How or when Mr.Dimmesdale got that scar isn’t clear, but
it’s a hurtful reminder that tells us Hester was not alone in her shame.
“With a convulsive motion,
he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed! But
it were irreverent to describe that revelation…the gaze of horror…stricken
multitude was concentrated on the ghastly miracle…minister stood, with a flush
of triumph in his face.” (Hawthorne 196)
5. The scaffold is one of the biggest symbols in The Scarlet
Letter. It is the place where Hester was made of after being released from
jail. It is also the place where Mr.Dimmesdale confessed the truth about his
sin, and exposed his scar. It stands for
sin and punishment.
“At last!-at last!-I
stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here, with
this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept
hitherward, sustains me, at his dreadful moment.” (Hawthorne 196)
6. Hester’s husband, known as Roger Chillingworth, is a
symbol of Hester’s past. When he comes back he is a reminder to both Hester and
Mr.Dimmesdale that she is not a free woman. He reminds her of Hester’s fear for
him.
“A writhing horror
twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and
making one little pause, with all its wrenched intervolutions in open sight.”
(Hawthorne 45)
“She pressed her
infant to her bosom with so convulsive a force that the poor babe uttered
another cry of pain. But the mother did not seem to hear it.” (Hawthorne 45)
7. Hawthorne uses the forest to symbolize the home of sin
and trouble.
"She had
wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as
intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest.” (Hawthorne 81)
8. The color scarlet is also a symbol of love and passion.
Hawthorne chose to make the letter scarlet because Hester and Mr.Dimmesdale committed
adultery out of their passion. Pearl wearing the color of her mother’s letter also
symbolizes the bond between Hester and Pearl. In the next quote Mr.Wilson
compliments Pearls clothes and after sees the scarlet bird.
“What little bird of
scarlet plumage may this be? Methinks I have seen just such figures, when the
sun has been shining through a richly painted window, and tracing out the
golden and crimson images across the floor.”
9. The meteor that crosses the sky when Hester, Pearl, and
Mr.Dimmesdale are on the scaffold signifies to Mr.Dimmesdale as a sign of god
that wants him to say his secret.
"…disease in his
own eye and heart…the minister sees the meteor in the shape of an A in dull red
light.”
10. The sun vanishing in chapter 21 symbolizes that Hester isn’t
happy. The sun usually symbolizes happiness which is what she feels with Pearl,
but when she tried to grab the sun it vanished meaning that Hester wasn’t
happy.
“…the sunshine
vanished…” (Hawthorne 180)
Characterization:
1. Hawthorne uses direct characterization
when he describes Hester Prynne’s appearance. “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large
scale. She had dark and abundant hair…a face…beautiful from regularity of
feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a
marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady like too.” (Hawthorne 40) When
he describes Hester’s husband he is also direct characterization “He was small in structure, with a furrowed
visage…there was a remarkable intelligence in his features…one of this man’s
shoulders rose higher than the others.” (Hawthorne 45) Hawthorn uses
indirect characterization when it comes to Hester’s personality. He uses what
people say about her and her actions to portray her personality. Hawthorne also
uses indirect characterization when he mentions Mr.Dimmesdale. He tells us
about his physical appearance but now his emotions or character.
2. Hawthorne’s diction changes
when he talks about Hester. Since she is the protagonist in this novel he gets
more serious and harsh when he talks about her. He acts as though he were a
Puritan judging her. Although he does mention her beauty, he portrays her as a
sinner, but defends her once in a while.
3. The main character, Hester, is a round character.
Throughout the novel she grows as a person. She starts of being afraid of her
feelings toward Arthur and what the people might say or think of her. As the
novel keeps going and she gives birth to her daughter, Pearl, she no longer
cares what anyone thinks. She’s a proud mother and walks in public with her
head held high. She ignores the finger pointing, the murmuring, and the fact
that she has a scarlet letter embroided to her chest.
4. I feel like I have actually met Hester Prynne. I can see
the pain she felt, her unconditional love for Mr.Dimmesdale, her fear of losing
Pearl and most of all how happy she was as a mother. Pearl had become a living
proof of her love to Mr.Dimmesdale. She didn’t care what everyone thought of
her or her daughter. She was a proud mother and loved her daughter deeply. No
one could take that happiness from her. Not even the harsh, judging society
could make her feel ashamed of her daughter.
“Beholding it, Hester
was constrained to rush towards the child,-to pursue the little elf in the
flight which she invariably began,-to snatch her to her bosom, with a close
pressure and earnest kisses,-not so much from overflowing love, as to assure
herself that Pearl was flesh and blood, and not utterly delusive.” (Hawthorne 69)
Enduring Memory:
One of the biggest lessons I’m taking from The Scarlet
Letter is that you have to make sure your choices make you happy because people
will judge anyways. Society is so quick to judge that they won’t even stop to
think of what could have led to that or why you did what you did. When the town
found out about Hester’s adultery they didn’t hesitate to call her a sinner.
They didn’t stop to wonder if maybe she loved her child’s father or of the
blessing being a mother is. All they did was point and judge as if they were
perfect. “This woman has brought shame
upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both
in the Scripture and the statue-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made
it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray!”
(Hawthorne 39) Another lesson I learned was that fear won’t get you
anywhere. Everyone in that town had a fear of something. It could have been
fear of being different or fear of what people might say. No one should be
afraid to show who they real are. We all say that it’s society’s fault for judging
but think of it we are part of society.
