Jordan Berger. Mrs. Voshell. Honors English 10. 6 January

The Holocaust was the systematic and bureaucratic murder of six million Jews by the Nazi party and its collaborators. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities targeted many groups of people because of their perceived "racial inferiority" including Gypsies, the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples. Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds. Several authors have written about the Holocaust, but one author that touched many people the most was Elie Wiesel. Through the use of several style devices, Wiesel creates an impressionistic style which reflects the nature of his experiences in the Nazi

The difference between Hester and Dimmesdale’s personal views on sin, and how they deal with their guilt are key themes within The Scarlet Letter.

Human trafficking,the illegal practice of trading in human beings for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of exploitation, is a crime that affects the most vulnerable citizens of society. After drugs, it the largest criminal activity globally! The victims must be the primary concern for all law enforcement units. Human trafficking in the world can be diminished and possibly erased through teachings, government intervention, and awareness.

She touches the scarlet letter, but little does she know that she is the reason for the punishment. They are social outcasts, so they don’t leave their house much. Pearl plays alone and has best friends that are imaginary. She distrusts her own imaginary friends for the same reason that she distrusts all the Puritans in the colony. People treat Hester and Pearl differently than everyone else is treated. She only loves Hester, because Hester spends time with her and is a good mother. She plays with her and teaches her Bible stories. Pearl knows the whole catechism at the age of three, but refuses to say it to anyone. She is smarter than everyone thinks she is. Chillingworth speaks to Pearl about the scarlet letter. He asked her if she knew the reason why her mother must wear the scarlet letter all the time. She replies, “Yes, that is the same reason why the preacher holds his hand over his heart.” Pearl asks her mom all the time the reason why she wears the scarlet letter and why the preacher holds his hand over his heart. She knows that they both do, but she doesn’t know why. Hester tells her that she wears it because of the pretty gold thread, but she doesn’t know the minister’s reason. Later in the story, Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl meet in the forest, and Hester rips the scarlet letter off. Pearl gets mad then, because she knows that her mother is supposed to wear it. Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, but she washes the kiss off with

Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Pearl illustrates the bondage of sin and love that exists between Hester and Dimmesdale. She embodies the scarlet letter “A” her mother is required to wear as retribution. Due to this, Pearl also embodies the retribution that Hester must face. Pearl is the physical symbol of Hester's sin, and because of this, Dimmesdale persuades the town’s ministers to permit Hester to be the legal guardian of Pearl. He informs the ministers that Pearl is a constant reminder of Hester's sin. Although Pearl is a constant reminder of Hester’s sin, she also represents the grace of God. In spite of Hester's and Dimmesdale's sin, Hester was bestowed a great gift in the form of Pearl. She is beyond society’s disdain and judgment.

Hester has changed in so many different ways. First, Hester starts the story looking very ladylike, but as the story progresses she becomes to look manly. Some of the townspeople believed she had cut her hair off because she started always having it up. She starts to look ladylike again when she is in the forest with Dimmesdale. Hester said she had to stay in Boston to face what she had done but being with Dimmesdale changed her mind. She thought Dimmesdale and her could move away from all of their sin `and start fresh. Another reason why Hester wanted to move away with Dimmesdale is so Pearl can have a father figure in her life. “In vast London - or, surely, in Germany...thou wouldst be beyond his power and knowledge” (Hawthorne 218). Another way Hester grows is her choice of going with the Black Man. Hester would have gone with the Black Man to get away from all her troubles. Since they did not take Pearl away from her, Hester stayed and Pearl changed her view on life. “Had they taken her from me, I would have willingly have gone with thee into the forest” (Hawthorne 129). One of the changes that occur since she has gotten the Scarlet Letter is her view of people. She understands and has the knowledge of other’s sins but the downfall is she loses faith. The last change she goes through is her needing to wear the Scarlet Letter. “Townspeople say she may, she does take it off privately in the forest” (Johnson 133). At first, Hester believes she must wear the Scarlet Letter and if it gains another meaning or just falls off then it is okay not to wear it. Eventually, the forest is a place where she feels safe and away from the rules of the community so she feels it is okay to be able to take it off. There are many more changes or growths that Hester has went through but can people really relate to

In this scene, Hester and Dimmesdale had a conversation, while Pearl went off to play elsewhere. In the dialogue, Hester took off the scarlet letter, and let her hair down. However, when she took off the letter, the sun miraculously shone on her in that moment, and when she

In the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is an attractive woman who has jumped into a loveless marriage with a man named Roger Chillingworth. He sends her to America to live in a Boston town however, to her knowledge, he disappears. She is considered to be a widow after two years without any trace of Chillingworth, and finds true love with the Puritan minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. In their passionate affair, they conceive a child named Pearl. The town is infuriated at Hester’s sinfulness and demands to know the father, although Hester refuses to release his identity. Hester’s husband then returns under a false identity and discovers Pearl’s father is Dimmesdale. He uses this knowledge to stay in a close proximity to the poor minister and torture his already guilt-ridden mind. While Hester is branded with her infamous flaming red “A” upon her breast and alienated from everyone, Dimmesdale must suffer in silence with only his secret to keep him company.

To the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the scarlet letter contains a whole new meaning. He views the letter as a constant reminder of his sin and cowardice. His guilt continues to grow as a result of his not being able to come forth in front of the community and take responsibility for his actions. His guilt and sin become magnified by his inability to stand beside Hester at the scaffold. Dimmesdale, also is ironically charged with questioning Hester and trying to convince her of the importance of identifying her fellow sinner (Hawthorne 52). He begins to feel more and more grief and it begins to affect his mental and physical state. He soon becomes weak; however, it is believed by the community to be because of his "too unreserved self-sacrifice to the labors and duties of the pastoral relation" (Hawthorne 80). When Dimmesdale is believed to be near death, the community again believes it is because "the world was not worthy to be any longer trodden by his feet" (Hawthorne 88). Dimmesdale seems to be haunted by

Hester states that she knows she committed a sin and it makes her stronger during the story, but Dimmesdale hides the fact and keeps to himself, which makes him weaker, later on, dying after a speech. Hester begins to acknowledge that the scarlet letter is predicted to mean ‘Able’, which makes her stronger as a woman and towards other people. Dimmesdale whips himself and buries the fact that he has sinned, causing him to become weaker later on. The theme of the novel shows the different ways to handle things that affect lives, and sets an example of other people who want to learn how to confess and recognize their own sins or

The scarlet letter, despite being Hester’s burden to bear, has a lot to say about all of the characters in the novel, main and supporting character’s alike. There are many themes and traits that the scarlet letter is tied to, but there are a select few that I felt most focused on throughout the novel that differ from character to character. Among concealed sin, self-torment, and many other linked concepts, the few that I will be pointing out pertain to the characters and are a large part of who that character is as an individual, not simply what they see or don’t see the scarlet letter meaning for those around them.

After Hester’s husband is lost at sea, she moves to a Puritan town in Boston. Hester meets Arthur Dimmesdale and quickly gains a special bond with him. Hester and Dimmesdale proceeded to have an affair; after which the town only finds out about when Hester becomes pregnant. Critics believe “When Hester Prynne seduced Arthur Dimmesdale it was the beginning of the end” (Bloom 13). The Scarlet Letter revolves around Hester and Dimmesdale sinful act of adultery, without the sin, Hester would never have Pearl and would never be punished to wear the scarlet letter. Hester would have lived a normal life in Boston. After the town knows about Hester’s adultery, no one comes forward as Hester’s partner in sin. Hester refuses to name her partner and “Someone believes that the reason why she refuses to tell her partner’s name is that she hoped her partner could be saved” (Sang 449). Dimmesdale and Hester met in private as the years go by. Pearl and Dimmesdale met, but nothing is told if Pearl truly knows who Dimmesdale, Pearl’s father. Hester has kept her relationship with Dimmesdale a secret for years. Hester “thinks, with Dimmesdale for her husband, and Pearl for her child, in Australia, maybe, she’d been perfect. But she wouldn’t. Dimmesdale had already fallen from his integrity as a minister of the Gospel of the Spirit. He had lost his manliness” (Bloom

The Scarlet Definition of Ambiguity How can a mere letter epitomize the conealed truths of an entire family? In literature underlying messages in morality and principles like this are occasionally expressed through symbolism, such is the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne’s romantic novel of sin and hypocrisy utilizes several characters, scenes, and objects to convey its messages in numerous fashions, as Millicent Bell further explains in The Obliquity of Signs: The Scarlet Letter. Of all the symbols presented in The Scarlet Letter, the title letter is the most prominent as it represents different meanings for Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and their daughter Pearl.

Hawthorne emphasizes the contrast in Dimmesdale’s quiet vigil and Hester’s public journey to the scaffold. Dimmesdale, whose “dread of public exposure” drives him to torture himself, Hester, whose confession seems to have made her stronger in the midst of the scarlet letter, and Pearl stand united, each a symbol of the effects of a hidden lifestyle (Hawthorne 126). Dimmesdale’s conviction is causing his health to deteriorate so quickly that he appears to be dying. Hester’s revealed secret initially caused her anguish, but she adjusted to and embraced the stigma. Pearl is constantly troubled by the depth of secrets surrounding her and her

There are five major scenes in the Scarlet Letter. At the beginning of the book, Hester walks out of the prison and stands on the scaffold to receive her punishment. Later in the book, Hester goes to the governor’s house to argue against them taking Pearl away. Then, Dimmesdale and Hester find each other at the scaffold once again. They also meet in the forest.