The Scarlet Letter : Nature Is Uncontrollable

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.

In The Scarlet Letter if anyone doesn’t follow the rules set by the society and the church they are punished harshly. If you committed Adultery, which was frowned upon by the church you were forced to wear a scarlet A and stand on a platform being publicly shamed everyday. Everyone had to follow the societal rules there were no questions asked. Even if they were technically not married because their spouse had died that is still adultery in the eyes of society. The punishment for disobeying the rules of society are unbelievably strict and cruel. The Scarlet Letter can relate because although you are not punished as severely nowadays you are still looked down upon for cheating on your spouse.

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very important and symbolic role.  Hawthorne uses nature to convey the mood of a scene, to describe characters, and to link the natural elements with human nature.  Many of the passages that have to do with nature accomplish more than one of these ideas.  All throughout the book, nature is incorporated into the story line. The deep symbolism conveyed by certain aspects of nature helps the reader gain a deeper understanding of the plight and inner emotions of the characters in the novel.

In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes the forest as the embodiment of freedom for members of the Puritan society in need of a refuge from the daily Puritan life. The forest itself is a free world with no Puritan laws. Nobody watches in the woods to report misbehavior, thus it is here that individuals may do as they wish.

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's work, The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very symbolic role. Throughout the book, nature is incorporated into the story line. One example of this is with the character of Pearl. Pearl is very different than all the other characters due to her special relationship with Nature. Hawthorne personifies Nature as sympathetic towards sins against the puritan way of life. Hester's sin causes Nature to accept Pearl.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne often demonstrates the frailty of humans. Nature is often described as beautiful, while the Puritan society and human nature are viewed in a harsh light. Hawthorne illustrates that human nature is flawed and judgmental through use of figurative language, critical diction, and symbolism.

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen once said, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” A person should be able to find beauty in nature to truly live their life. Nature gives symbols for how life happens. Every spring trees comeback to life and every winter trees “die”. Sunshine gives warmth and life to the plants. By being free to live however they please, plants are given the truth of how life truly is. People have to find nature and believe in the power of nature to explore life. Just as Hans Christian Andersen believes one should find nature, Nathaniel Hawthorne believes nature should be shown in The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, nature uncovers the truth about

Today adultery “in most states is a misdemeanor” (Source B) this shows that it is not viewed nearly as bad today as it was in colonial Puritan society. Even important public figure such as the director of the C.I.A. just gets pressured to resign. According to the Supreme Court adultery is “When one spouse rejects the other” if even the sup ream court says something then that is the law. This shows that adultery is not viewed as bad inn today’s society as it is in Scarlet letter. When Hester was on the scaffold for the first time in the beginning of the book a few women wanted a far worse punishment for Hester. “We talk of marks and brands, whether on bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead” (Source A)some of these women want to brand the letter A on her forehead instead of making her wear it on her cloths for the rest of her life which is a far worse punishment than wearing it. What would you prefer to wear a letter A on your shirt for the rest of your life or have it branded on your forehead, which sounds a lot more painful than just wearing it? It is not only America that does not follow Puritan history, “the entire rest of the industrialized world, adultery is not covered by the criminal code.” (Source B) this proves that many countries do not follow puritan

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, society is a big influence on the plot and the development of its characters. Society’s view and reaction toward sin greatly affects characters and the plot.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” and his novel The Scarlet Letter are both set in New England’s strict and pious Puritan society. In both stories Hawthorne uses the puritanical towns and the surrounding forest to create a contrast between human nature and Puritan beliefs. Hawthorne criticizes Puritan society by showing that even good men, struggle with sin and temptation. Through the town representing Puritanism and the forest symbolizing human vulnerability he shows that no amount of rules and laws can change the sinful and complex nature of humanity, and that the concept of living life ruled

To bring it all in Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walt Whitman both provide examples of society vs nature. Examples of how society is constructing us from being free and examples of society being a place of reason and logic, but they also showed us how nature at its greatest can set us free without limits. However nature can be devastating like in the case with Chillingworth and how human nature overcame him to obtain revenge. As well as my own self experience with nature and riding the mountain being free to myself. The experiences that society

In the Puritan society the outlandish mindset of the leaders caused more harm than good with the witch trials in Salem to the events mentioned in The Scarlet Letter. Sin and evil the new world cloud the vision of the citizens, yet they are two separate actions and have different definitions. Hawthorne explains the difference between the two in the novel and also shows off his famous skill of questioning a society’s rules, regulations, and social structure. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his writing style of ambiguity, and ornate word choice to relay his opinion of the puritan society. Characters, quotes, and symbols give us a snapshot of the time and thoughts on events and ideas during the era. Hawthorne’s characters are a

In American Literature many authors write about nature and how nature affects man's lives. In life, nature is an important part of people. Many people live, work, or partake in revelry in nature. Nature has received attention from authors spanning several centuries. Their attitudes vary over time and also reflect the different outlooks of the authors who chose to discuss this important historical movement. A further examination of this movement, reveals prevalence of nature's influence on man and how it affects their lives.

Although Puritanism, Romanticism and Transcendentalism do not coexist peacefully, these almost worldview kind of people groups are deeply embedded into three fictional characters from the book, The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This enthralling and rich classic which takes place in Boston Massachusetts during the time of Puritanism gives the reader not only a taste of the Puritans and their staunch attitude, but also of a less common way of thinking and behaving which is expressed through a certain character in the book. The three main characters in this book are all diversely different but are bound tightly together by a long kept secret and discovering their methods of thinking and acting upon

The Scarlet Letter is a modern classic of American literature written about controversy and published with controversy. The main topic of the book, adultery, is written in a dark and sad way, as Hawthorne describes injustice, fate or predetermination and conscience ( Van Doren, 1998) . No other American novel of the time has such a controversial theme as Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter. The setting of Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is the seventeenth century Puritan New England. But Hawthorne's writing for this book is heavily influenced by his own nineteenth century culture. Hawthorne strongly believed in Providence. Hawthorne was descended from the Puritan