Distorted Visions In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Distorted Visions
Dark romance with a splash of mystery embodies the spirit of Nathaniel Hawthorne's enigma, The Scarlet Letter. Every mark of ink is purposely placed to provoke the reader to question every single emotion, motive, and action in the fictional Puritan New England society that Hester calls home in the mid-1600s. Hawthorne divulges the many layers of his multidimensional characters' unique identities and actions, but also leaves the reader's desire for clear character analysis unquenched. Combined with the characters' secrets and a hint of dramatic irony, he forces one to wonder who these characters really are. Hawthorne suggests that perceptions surrounding individuals, whether it is their views of themselves or others, are
An example of this is Dimmesdale telling Hester, "Happy are you, Hester, that wears the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!"(167) In a labyrinth of delusion, he selfishly ignores the pain and hardships that Hester faces because of her exhortation from society. His hatred and guilty conscience cause him to see Hester, the woman he loves, as the one who is free of the weight of the level of oppression that he experiences daily from the sin they share. He resents the sin to the point that he cannot help but associate the passion he has for Hester with it and then partially blame her. Another example is how Hester, having never “felt… love, nor feigned any” (68) for Roger Chillingworth, is able to clearly see " 'the hatred that has transformed’” (151) the man she agreed to marry, from a “’wise and just man to a fiend'"(151). She never feels love for him in the form of blinding passion , so she is able to see him for who he really is. Although they are bonded together by marriage, there is no real relationship there to blur her logic. Hester is later a victim of distorted views when she is overwhelmed with her "troubled heart" (87) to the point that she questions "whether Pearl was a human child” (83). The emotions that come with sin, exclusion from society, and raising a child alone delude her into thinking that Pearl may be “ an airy sprite" (83). Her daughter, Pearl is the only thing keeping her going at this point and Hester is fully aware that this is in fact her human baby. Influenced by her emotions and Pearl’s challenging demeanor, she cannot even think logically to recognize how unlikely it is that her child is anything other than human. Emotions involved in relationships have a way of making things seem far from what they really are as Hawthorne reveals throughout the