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By: Kendall Buckley The novel, //The Scarlet Letter// was an excellent novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. Based on a true story this novel was written to show readers that there is ties between the spiritual and human realms in the world. Also that with knowledge of things that should not be known comes with consequences. //The Scarlet Letter//’s symbolism, descriptive setting, and intriguing plot line, make the novel one of the most intriguing and famous books today. On July 4, 1804 a man by the name of Nathaniel Hathorne was born in Salem Massachusetts. Because Nathaniel’s great grand father was the judge in charge of the Salem Witch Trails in 1692; Nathaniel thought it best to change his last name to Hawthorne so he would not be associated with his grand father. Nathaniel also chose to move from Salem to Maine where he attended Bowdoin Collage to become a writer. From 1825 to 1836 Hawthorne worked as a writer for periodicals around Maine. Realizing that he had potential he eventually switched over to writing short stories and novels. Hawthorne ’s efforts in becoming a famous writer weren’t good after his first series of books, //Seven Tales of my Native Land,// was rejected. He chose to burn them because of the success it did not bring him. Burning his books became a common theme in Hawthorne’s life considering not many of his books became popular of famous until after his death on May 19, 1864. In the midst of all these failed books, on book in particular caught the eye of many people. //The Scarlet Letter// was one of the most famous books written by Hawthorne that came out in 1850. Nathaniel based this book on his life in Salem that was apparently also based on a true story. Because of Nathaniel’s great grand father’s assist in the Salem Witch Trails, Hawthorne wrote //The Scarlet Letter// to show the early out bringing of spiritual battles amongst humans. In a small Puritan village, a woman by the name of Hester Prynne is being shunned by the town for committing adultery with an un-known man whom she will not confess. Because Hester had just given birth to the child, she is forced to wear a letter “A” made of Scarlet on her clothing for the rest of her life. “Thus she will be living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone” (Hawthorne 59). She is also forced to raise her child without the father and to feel guilt everyday of her life. The same day that she is condemned, her long lost husband also returns to see that she had moved on without him. To cause her grief, he chose to stay in the village and work as a doctor by the name of Roger Chillingworth. Roger eventually ends up being the doctor of one of the town’s priests by the name of Arthur Dimmesdale. As time goes by, Roger Chillingworth begins to see that Arthur Dimmesdale is hiding his own scarlet letter that burns at his heart everyday just as the scarlet letter burns at Hester. In the novel //The Scarlet Letter// Hester Prynne was forced to raise her daughter Pearl without the help of the father and with guilt everyday. Hawthorne makes the story interesting by using Hester’s guilt for Pearl, turning her into a smart, conniving monster. “Pearl was born outcast of the infantile world. An emp of evil, emblem and product of sin” (Hawthorne 86). When she was only eight she was talking about her mother and her guilt for the scarlet letter. She would also continuously harass her mother to tell her who her father was or what the scarlet letter meant. In doing so, she became vicious and started yelling at her mother, but then would suddenly become a sweet innocent girl skipping down the street. “What does the letter mean, mother?—and why dost thou wear it?—and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?” (185) The actions that Pearl demonstrates in the novel are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s idea showing the spiritual forces’ grip on humans. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale being attacked by their burden for committing adultery was also another way of showing the spiritual forces attacking. “To disclose wheather by uttered words, or by type or emblem, the secrets that may be buried with a human heart. The heart, making itself guilty of such secrets, must perforce hold them, until the day when all hidden things shall be revealed” (Hawthorne 133). Through out the story, Puritans were portrayed as completely innocent people that never do anything wrong. If you were a person, like Hester, who did one thing wrong that went against everything the bible or God said, you were immediately put to death or condemned for the rest of your life. The person could choose to repent, but God would never completely forgive them or allow them into heaven. What makes the novel interesting is the problem with this theory. Puritans around this time became more relaxed about rules such as these because of the Salem Witch Trails that took place around 200 years before. The Puritan people still believed in most of the early traditions and beliefs laid down by their forefathers, but they also became more relaxed around this time about there rules and beliefs. The people were more free willed in doing what they wanted and not being shunned completely for their actions and beliefs. Also because America was working on becoming a free country, people had the right to do or say what they wanted. The genre of the novel //The Scarlet Letter// can be viewed as being very symbolic. Examples of this are the true meaning behind the scarlet letter worn by Hester Prynne on her clothes and the scarlet letter attached to Arthur Dimmesdale’s heart. Hester’s scarlet letter was worn on her clothing to show that she had committed adultery and was to be shunned by people. Arthur’s scarlet letter on his heart was hidden causing him internal grief that can only be caused by evil spiritual forces creating the reason or passion for the grief. “Happy for you Hester that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret” (Hawthorne 176)! Hester also dealt with this grief with her scarlet letter because she also shared the same pain as Dimmesdale did. The novel’s setting also plays an important role through out the story. In the beginning, Hawthorne describes the town of Massachusetts and the jail in great detail. As time goes on, he becomes very detailed and descriptive about the setting. This is because the setting creates the evil atmosphere in story which reveals to the readers the evil that lurks about in the novel. “Overhead was a gray expanse of cloud, slightly stirred, however, by a breeze, so that a gleam of flickering sunshine might now and then be seen at its solitary play along the path” (Hawthorne 188). The Black Forest that Hester and Arthur meet in can be seen as something evil because of it’s darkness that it posses as well as some good because of the sun beams that burst through the tree tops. The tone in the novel //The Scarlet Letter// was used to display Hawthorne’s feelings towards the Puritan people. Through out the novel, Nathaniel secretly expresses his feelings about the Puritan people by using Hester and her scarlet letter as a window of opportunity. “But there is a fatality, a feeling so irritable and invariable compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event had given the color of their lifetime” (Hawthorne 79). Hester was shunned by the puritan people in her village and was forced to wear the scarlet letter on her clothing for life. Through Hester’s story and struggle, Hawthorne is able to express his opinion on the puritan people and explain his feelings towards how they should treat people. He believes that no one is perfect and even though someone does one little thing wrong they should not be shunned or condemned for life.
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