The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The children In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter play a major role in the Puritan society. With their honest opinions of Hester and Pearl, the children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults. Due to their innocence, children are capable of expressing themselves without constraints; there are no laws or regulations that they are bounded by. As an adolescent go through the stages of life and grow older, they begin to be more conscious of the how they act as they are more aware of society and the things that are occurring in the world, creating a filter for their actions. When they remain as the children, on the other hand, are adventurous; they are still exploring the universe that seems to fill with mysteries that are bound to be solved. They tend to attach to the truth and they are not afraid to speak it freely. Children differ from adults in their potential for expressing these perceptions. With their obliviousness to the things that are actually going on around the town, children therefore react differently compared to the adults, who are more knowledgeable. Perceived to be immature, young children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults due to their innocence, how they are unaware of the reality and the crimes that are presented in society by the adults enables them to be blithe and not afraid of saying what they feel like. Due to their naivety, when they express what they perceive to be true, they do not get punished,

A child stealing candy from the bowl when she knows she isn’t supposed to; a drug addict coming forward to admit he has a terrible plight; a student cheating on their final exam after choosing not to study; a young girl admitting to pushing another child down on the playground; a husband cheating on his wife. Some stories of these subjects are known by all, able to heal and move forward with a clear conscience, while others are sheltered within them, left to fester and grow in destructiveness. All of these examples portray a subject either bound, or given peace by the truth of something depending on whether it is concealed or uncovered. The power and significance of exposed/hidden truth is something utilized in writing all the time when an

Nathaniel Hawthorne composes Pearl as a powerful character even though she is not the main one. Her actions not only represent what she is as a person, but what other characters are and what their actions are. Hawthorne makes Pearl the character that helps readers understand what the other characters are. She fits perfectly into every scene she is mentioned in because of the way her identity and personality is. Pearl grows throughout the book, which in the end, help the readers better understand what the significance of The Scarlet Letter is.

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne was set during the 1600s in a New England town during what is now known as the Puritan past of America. In the novel, the Puritan religion was not only observed but criticized as well. During this time, the Puritans were an extremely religious group of Protestants that were known for their intolerance of other religions and their strict guidelines for a righteous lifestyle that often lead to violence or cruel forms of punishment. Nathaniel Hawthorne is a perfect portrayal of a Puritan historian because he himself was born as a Puritan and witnessed first-hand the extreme pressures associated with the Puritan religion to include arguments about the Puritan society and the treatment endured within the religion. Although The Scarlet Letter was set in the 1600s, the novel was written in the 1840s and dealt with issues during the Antebellum Era specifically when it came to the Women’s Movement and the Second Great Awakening.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne summarizes Hester Prynne’s perspective of the forest in one phrase. Early in the book, as Hester leaves prison, Hawthorne describes the forest as “dark, inscrutable… open to [Hester], where the wilderness of her nature might assimilate itself with a people whose customs and life were alien from the law that had condemned her” (75). Hawthorne explains Hester’s connection to the evil, isolated, and free forest, which serves as the location for her conversations with Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth. In contrast to Puritan society, Hester Prynne not only identifies with the sinful nature of the forest, but also finds its isolation and freedom liberating.

The clockwork of Nature does not stop for any Man. In the classic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale conceals an abominable truth. Avoiding subjugation to the conservative Puritan's Society rule, the reverend feigned obliviousness all the while Hester, the person he committed adultery with, fearlessly bared her shame upon her bosom. The society held Dimmesdale to a higher standard; as a result, their influences hindered his ability to take responsibility for his actions. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne manipulates complementary diction, parallel juxtapositions, guilt-ridden indirect characterizations, and enlightening dialogues to interpret how the society symbolized the prison bars cemented by incarceration, cannot bring to naught the natural order of humanity.

Hypocrisy is not only prevalent in present day but is also shown during the age of the Puritans. The Puritans may have given the impression of having lived a righteous and holy pure life, but in the end, they all fall victims to sin because of human nature and free will. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne does an outstanding job of portraying the Puritans and their many struggles within their religious beliefs throughout their community. The society in which these main characters, Hester Prynne, Rodger Chillingworth who is Hester’s husband, and the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, all live within the tight-knit of the Puritan community. Hester Prynne commits an act in which she is publicly embarrassed for and is forced to wear

"An" is seen uniquely in contrast to some time recently. In this area of the novel,

Hester may seem like an ordinary sinner, but once the symbols are devoured, Hester is much more complex. As seen in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbols provide underlying messages to the reader, to help learn more about characters and plot. In the novel, the three main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, are struggling the battle of sin and the consequences that come about. In the Puritan society, there are many religious references and concepts. While Hester is judged by the society for her sin, others in her life are affected by it also. The book opens up with Hester standing on the scaffold, where she is made a shame. Through the book, Hester 's life is dug into deeper, as the reader finds out who she truly is and who the people around her have become. The symbols in the book are necessary to understanding the underlying themes of the text. Throughout the book, the most important symbols to understand are, nature and the black man, Dimmesdale 's mark and scarlet letter, and Pearl.

What exists within often does not match what appears outside. This statement is especially seen in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester Prynne, but the Puritan community only knows, until the end of the book, that Hester committed adultery, but they do not know with whom. Arthur Dimmesdale therefore finds himself feeling guilty and attempting to repent himself before he dies. His actions, however, until the end of the book, are internal because of his internal conflict – confessing his sin to the community would alleviate his internal pain but could cause the community to disrespect or mistreat him. Dimmesdale therefore deals with his sin internally, but these effects are seen outside his skin. Arthur Dimmesdale demonstrates the relationship between individualism and society (the community) because his individual private actions and thoughts, those done internally, affect his societal public actions, those done externally and vice versa.

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, narrates the events of young adulteress Hester Prynne and her secret lover Arthur Dimmesdale – telling a story of lust, guilt, and betrayal. Despite her affair being more passionate than her legal marriage to Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s sinful act ends with a pregnancy which results in disastrous consequences. She is thrown into a crowd of ravenous puritans, vying to save themselves from eternal damnation, and is forced to endure the harsh hypocritical criticism of her peers. Through this emotional pain and suffering Hester raises her child, Pearl, to the best of her abilities, only to be surprised when she ends up as wild and free as the act that conceived her. Pearl’s untamed character is

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is filled with violence, hatred, and social ostracism, and contains a dark and sinister plot. These inherent values make this dark romance seem true to itself. However, I believe that there is another meaning to the story’s events. Many parts of the plot relate to religion and nature, showing to Hester how resorting to nature when the many challenging situations are presented results in a much better outcome. While The Scarlet Letter is very dark on the surface, its real point is to convey how the prominent role of religion in society is the source of its ailments and darkness, and that adapting to nature leads to a more enjoyable and prosperous life. The church is corrupt, forcing you to live a lie, and the solutions to the Puritan’s corruption and these lies are found when abandoned and resorting to nature.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main characters of this book are Reverend Author Dimmesdale, Pearl, Roger Chillingworth, Governor Bellingham, Mistress Hibbins, John Wilson, and Hester Prynne. The setting of this book is mid 17th century New England, Boston, Massachusetts, Bay Colony.

“On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A.” (40) Every aspect of the story of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, whether it be major or minor, stems from this line. From beginning to end, the scarlet letter has a major bearing on the unfolding of the plot. Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is spared death for her sin, but she must wear a scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. Her husband, who has been living with Native Americans for the past two years, arrives in town just in time to see her holding a baby and being publicly humiliated for the crime of adultery and vows to get revenge. As

The scarlet letter is book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who is known as one the most studied writers because of his use of allegory and symbolism. He was born on July 4, 1804 in the family of Nathaniel, his father, and Elizabeth Clark Hathorne his mother. Nathaniel added “W” to his name to distance himself from the side of the family. His father Nathaniel, was a sea captain, and died in 1808 with a yellow fever while at sea. That was a painful moment for the Hathorne family. With financial issues, Nathaniel moved into Elizabeth’s wealthy brother’s house. While living there, he injured his leg which caused him to stay immobile at home for several months during which time he developed interests for reading and set his ambition for becoming a writer. Hawthorne attended Bowdoin college from 1821 to 1825. During his college year, he missed his family so bad such that he went to stay with them for twelve days. And it is during that time that he wrote some stories like The Hollow of the Three Hills and An old Woman’s Tale. In 1846, Nathaniel lost his job as a surveyor in the Salem Custom House. This lose of job turned into a blessing life. Giving him more time, he wrote his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, one of the first mass produced publications in the United States and its wide distribution made Nathaniel famous. President Franklin Pierce, appointed Hawthorne an american consul to Britain as a recompense of his