The Scarlet Letter--Erica's Review

Upon picking up The Scarlet Letter, I was thrown into a new world. One very different from the beliefs and customs of the world I live in today, which is expected considering the book was first published in 1850, and the story set in the 1600s. The story takes place in the Puritan town of Boston. In this strict puritan town, any sin, petty or significant, is not tolerated. In this town, everyone is scrutinized and it seems like everyone is forced to live a pious life style. The views of this town play a very important role in the actions and attitudes of each town member including the main characters. For instance, in order to keep his honor and respect of the town’s people, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale hides his sins, which would be shamed by all if he were to expose them. 

The book focuses on the lives of four people living in the town. The first being Hester Prynne, who is being punished for committing adultery with an unknown person, which as a result, gets her pregnant. As her punishment, she is forced to serve jail time, is displayed on the town scaffold with her child for all to ridicule, and must wear a scarlet A upon her bosom as a symbol of her infidelity. She bears a child named Pearl who becomes her one true treasure and a beauty. Another character is Reverend Dimmesdale, who is one of the town’s most respected clergymen but who withholds a sin from the knowledge of the public. The last main character is Roger Chillingworth. He is a physician and Hester’s estranged husband, who came into town just in time to witness his wife stand on the scaffold in all her shame.

The story takes place over the next seven years, in which Hester Prynne loses her natural beauty and continues to bear her penance for all to see, Pearl grows up to become a mischievous and perceptive child, Reverend Dimmesdale finds himself struggling with the guilt of the sin he has performed and has been put under the care of Roger Chillingworth, and Chillingworth becomes so obsessed with revenge, that it’s all he cares for making him seem truly evil. You soon learn that Reverend Dimmesdale is the other adulterer and once Chillingworth learns this, he tortures and toys with the Reverend. Dimmesdale decides to run away with Hester and Pearl to become a family, but their plan of escape falls short when Dimmesdale decides to declare his sin to the town and dies soon after on the scaffold in Hester’s arms with Pearl and Chillingworth around him. Chillingworth dies just a year later and leaves Pearl all his property, allowing her and her mother to finally leave the town. Prynne returns a few years later, still wearing the scarlet A and spent the rest of her life in the town.

Sin, love, revenge, social organization, and human nature are all major attributes found in Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Each one of these parts plays a key role in making the book effective and worth reading. Through Hawthorne’s somewhat complex writing, which becomes easier to understand as you continue reading, the reader explores the dreadful effects of sin especially when living in such a devout town. Each character has their own unique traits, giving the story a more realistic feel and allowing the reader to identify with the characters. Hawthorne was able to intertwine the aforesaid attributes well and allowed me as a reader to become engaged with the text. As the story progressed, I was able to formulate my own opinions about the actions of the characters as well as the attitudes of the town’s people. It is easy to see why this book is timeless, because although the story was set four hundred years ago and our society different from their generally pious nature, many people can recognize the want to fit into society unscathed, protecting the ones you love, and ultimately the struggle of trying to do the right thing.

  

The Scarlet Letter-- Prose Analysis 1 of 2 by Erica

Text from the Novel—Page 69-70

   He was small in stature, with furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged. There was a remarkable intelligence in his features, as of a person who had so cultivated his mental part that it could not fail to mould the physical to itself, and become manifest by unmistakable tokens. Although by seemingly careless arrangement of his heterogeneous garb, he has endeavored to conceal or abate the peculiarity, it was sufficiently evident to Hester Prynne that one of this man’s shoulders rose higher than the other. Again, at the first instant of perceiving that thin visage, and the slight deformity of the figure, 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. 

Analysis:

    During this passage, Hawthorne is describing a man in the crowd that is drawn around Hester Prynne. He writes in an objective point of view and has a unique choice of words, which I find interesting. Hawthorne writes using extensive vocabulary and a mixture of sentence structures, which exudes a sense of his intelligence and his educated background.

    This paragraph is a perfect example of his dynamic writing, because he uses different types of sentences. While reading the passage, I noticed that the first and second sentences were complex sentences, the third was a compound- complex sentence, the fourth, another complex sentence, and the fifth was a simple sentence. He also switches between periodic and loose sentences, which can be seen in the second and third sentences. Hawthorne uses uncommon, descriptive words throughout his writing. For instance, he uses the words furrowed visage and heterogeneous garb to help describe the man in the crowd. These words, although not often used, give a higher, more thorough description of the man. Because of his writing style, which proves to be effective, he was able to describe occurrences in the story and give the reader a greater understanding of characters and the story in general.

   Hawthorne writes in a way that I find very entertaining. He uses many elements to add substance to every sentence of his work. His sentences are thought out and quite fun to read because he writes in a complex and formal way. In this way Hawthorne is able to boost his credibility as a writer and his effectiveness of the text.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (Erica)

          

  I am currently reading The Scarlet Letter. I have wanted to read this book for some time and now I can finally do that. The Scarlet Letter is easily considered a classic and I hope to understand and see its timelessness after reading the book. I was first drawn to this book because of Hawthorne’s writing style. By reading this, I want to see how his word choices create effective writing and get a better understanding of his writing style. I may be also able to understand a bit more of what it was like during that time period.    

The Scarlet Letter-- Response 2 of 4 by Erica

Part II: pages 55- 151

    It is on page fifty-five that the story truly begins to take place and I get a sense of what the book entails. Hawthorne sets the story in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1800s. He gives you a sense of what life was like during that time, which allowed me to better understand the text and view the characters the way they were seen during their time. I was also able to put myself in that time period and follow the customs of the century rather than that of the 21^st century.

   People were very religious and their religion often went hand in hand with the law. It is obvious that these Puritans did not separate religion and state like we do now. He tells of the types of people. Women were more hardy and masculine and spoke with shear indifference towards those they believed to have done wrong. The town had little tolerance for crimes, sins, or bad behavior and each punishment was carried out with severity and humility for the person who committed the crime.  The town has a very strict code of conduct and it seems illogical for anyone to attempt a crime because of the ridicule they would receive. I would not like living in a town that strict. I would always feel as if I were walking on eggshells and be constantly aware of anything that may be misconstrued as a sin or wrong doing.

    The story revolves around a young, beautiful woman named Hester Prynne. You infer that she has committed adultery and has bared a child because of it. She is forced to wear a red embroidered A to show her crime and is ridiculed by all the towns people. I find Hester Prynne a truly strong woman with great character. Instead of running away from her shame, she faces it daily and chooses to hold her chin up high, although that is not always an easy task for her. She takes responsibility for her actions, which is more than most people do, including Pearl’s father. I appreciate that Prynne does not reveal the name of Pearl’s father. She is protecting him, which I understand considering the harshness that would be bestowed upon him if she were to expose his identity.

   Pearl, Hester’s daughter, is the one good thing that has come of the situation. No matter how the child came about, a mother’s love for the child outweighs their resentment or regret toward the original situation. Pearl is her mother’s greatest treasure and she will do anything to keep her, which the heads of the town allow her to do. It’s sad that Pearl must suffer the mockery her mother deals with because she is associated with Prynne.

   I find it interesting that Hester’s husband shows up at the moment of her public shame. He had two years to come and settle down with Hester and only showed up after she has committed adultery. I am not condoning Hester’s infidelity, but I find it a bit arrogant for her husband to just waltz back in and naturally want to seek revenge on the man who got his wife pregnant. Some may think it is admirable, and he is fighting the man who took his wife’s honor, but his demeanor and methods to his revenge seem questionable. He does not even regard his wife after she gets out of jail. If he truly loved her, he would help her bear her shame, but he is just upset that some other man has touched what was supposed to be his and wants revenge to maintain his pride. The town’s people also view him as devil-like, which ties into the town’s natural religiousness. I can tell religion will be a regular theme throughout the story.