Character Analysis Of The Mayor Of Casterbridge

When people first start reading a book there is one burning question: "What is this story about?" It’s a heavy question, especially for a fiction novel with so many fabricated details. You can fix this by saying a story is all about decisions. Of course, there are other themes, but the entire story is connected by the questions characters ask themselves and the outcome of their own answers. We can think about how this mimics real life. How every day we are forced to consider life's chance situations; some casual, some pressing, but all of them impacting our final growth as people and those around us to some degree. A good example of this is when in the book "The Outsiders", our protagonist Jonny decided to kill Bob in self-defense, this resulted in Jonny and Ponyboy going on the run. The decisions, the choices, that were made by Jonny change the course of his and his cohort's entire lives in an instant--directing the whole final tale and story outcome.

Lawrence’s use of abrupt syntax supports his views on Hester because it acts as a quick list of insults. Equally important, it provides the reader with direct reasons as to why Hester should be berated in the novel. Since Lawrence suspects that the complications in the novel begin with

People never know what they are made out of until they are put to the test. Throughout the novel The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck, Mayor Orden is put to the ultimate test and finds his true self and what he is capable of when his small town is invaded by Nazis. Mayor Orden is indisputably the main character, he was born to be the mayor of the town and no one would ever challenge his role.

In his work “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence addresses the controversial character of Hester Prynne. He is just one of many critics who have analyzed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional character, where some look to her as a hero and others blatantly shame her for her sin. Lawrence makes up the latter of this crowd, and is able to prove his case in a very meaningful manner. The critic believes that Hawthorne sugarcoats Hester’s image, and tries to make it look as if she is the victim of the tale. Disregarding this sympathy, he addresses the root cause of her sin rather than its consequences. As he writes, he uses a multitude of literary techniques to help convince readers of Hester’s seemingly evil character, using descriptive diction, a

The intersection of Maribel’s and Mayor’s lives is significant to both of them for various reasons. Mayor gives Maribel someone to talk to and have a friend that would have her back through it all as well as allowing her to escape from her usual life and the boring schedule that she has been accustomed to. Mayor soon becomes protective of Maribel as she is more susceptible to bullies, like Garrett who tried to sexually assault her, because of her injury. When Mayor saw Maribel at the gas station, it was love at first sight for him mostly for her beauty but also because they were both viewed as ‘outsiders’ in America. He tries to protect her from the evil in the world around her and make sure she is happy and comfortable. He gains a friend from

As the book opens, Hawthorne introduces us to the character of Hester. Despite her position of ignominy, he presents her immediately as a strong, likable personality. Through her trials and triumphs, we gain insight into her conflict and her complete dismissal of her own worth. Ultimately, the reader becomes very empathetic and emotionally bound to Hester's character. Because the reader identifies so strongly with Hester's position, he naturally wishes her happiness. Thus, the predictable problem develops.

From the start the novel is laden with the pressures that the main characters are exposed to due to their social inequality, unlikeness in their heredity, dissimilarity in their most distinctive character traits, differences in their aspirations and inequality in their endowments, let alone the increasingly fierce opposition that the characters are facing from modern post-war bourgeois society.

Conflict is first observed through Hester’s ongoing difficulties with her fellow townspeople. Hester receives ridicule from on looking townspeople, as a gossiping woman states, ‘ “At the very least, they

The most irony in the novel is the differences between the identity from which society assigns for Hester through the scarlet letter and the identity which she creates by herself. Though, letter A is a label of sin which people in the community try to impose on Hester, she doesn't let this Puritan view interfere her thought and feeling. On the contrast it seems that this letter also exposes the

There is a change to the New York that Newland Archer has been accustomed too his whole life. Living in the upper-class New York, there are many traditional customs one follows. A first person narrative told by Newland Archer, the stories protagonist, showing his view on his new life in New York City. Archer befriends Lawrence Leffert; a man who displays himself as a perfect man. The character of Lawrence Lefferts is established for a reason, to help Newland realize his true self, and how he doesn’t follow the values that are in place during his time. Edith Wharton, the stories author, wrote in Lawrence Lefferts as foil character to create a bigger fallout between the protagonist and other major characters. Archer must make it clear where he stands, after getting suspicions that a his inner circle society values, can be changed so easily by Lawrence Lefferts, a man whom contradicts the social norm of upper-class New York.

He proves that Hester does not in any way define a pure woman and that she should not be held highly because she has nothing to be exalted for. Lawrence’s use of brief syntax throughout his writing shows how abruptly he managed to prove Hester’s character as

When first introducing Hester, the narrator focuses on Hester’s England beauty. While describing how the newer generations in the New World had become more soft and fragile looking, the narrator contrast them to Hester who had Elizabeth beauty. The narrator seems to favor Hester more than the onlooking Puritans. The narrator then dives into how strong and courageous Hester is by taking her punishment and holding her head while doing so. Carried from chapter one, the theme of sin carries into chapter two.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne captures the conflict Hester Prynne faces as she struggles to cope with the various forms of guilt and the challenges that life presents her with. At the beginning of chapter five, Hester Prynne is out of jail and is contemplating deeply about her past and present. This deep contemplation marks the beginning of a ‘new’ Hester—one who is thinking critically about the choices she must make in life in order to survive as a ‘pure’ soul in an otherwise rigid society of Puritans. Through the author’s diction, symbolism and literary devices such as juxtaposition, personification, anaphora, visual imagery and irony, readers begin to explore the conflict in Hester’s mind and the message that amidst conflict,

As American-British novelist Mark Lawrence once said, “We’re built of contradictions, all of us. It’s those opposing forces that give us strength, like an arch, each block pressing the next”. The aforementioned contradictions are what lead to conflicts, and in turn growth and acceptance. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his revolutionary classic The Scarlet Letter, delves into the conflicts that the brave, yet infamous Hester Prynne has to overcome. As Hawthorne unfolds the unfortunate tragedy of Hester and her mysterious lover, the battles Hester has to face are multiple external and internal stimuli that bring about the growth of Hester as a character. The onerous obstacles that Hester must face through her life wear her out mentally, but only then can she truly grow and accept who she is.

Hawthorne uses Hester’s portrayal as a hero to advocate for the Romantic ideology of individualism while shaming the negative effect society’s collectivism has towards advancement. In his novel, Hester is used to represent the Romantic hero, one whose honor is not determined by society’s rules, but by her own individuality. The Romantics believed in the value of