Identity In The Scarlet Letter
Jonathan Alessi
10/16/11
Period 4
Who Are You?: An analysis of identities in The Scarlet Letter
Identity, what is it? Is it a name? Is it defined by what we do, where we work or how hard we play? Is identity categorized by a moment from our past or is it defined by the present? Is identity of a person only one definite thing or is it dependent upon the observer? According to Nathaniel Hawthorne identity is definite, unchangeable, and can be defined by one single moment in a person’s life. To Hawthorne identity is more than just what your driver’s license says and what your social security number is, but is the thing you obsess over. This is why, in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, characters’ lives effect their inescapable …show more content…
Hester Prynne is defined in The Scarlet Letter by the letter she wears on her chest. When told of the magistrates’ intention to take off her letter Hester replies “It lies not in the power of the magistrates to take off this badge,” (144). The magistrates, Hawthorne would say, cannot take off the scarlet letter because the scarlet letter is not only cloth on Hester’s shirt but is actually Hester’s identity. Hester’s identity cannot simply be changed into something different by the disappearance of something on her chest. Not only that, but her identity literally cannot leave her, even for an instant. Even when she is able to leave the place of her punishment at the end of the book, she still must come back after Pearl is grown and replace the letter on her chest and “Never afterwards did it quit her bosom” (225). She has to have the letter. It is a deep part of her. It is sewn not only through her shirt but sewn directly to her soul. She must come back to it. Hester cannot leave the “A” it is a part of her it would be like leaving her arm …show more content…
Roger needs revenge on the father of Hester’s baby. He doesn’t want revenge, nor does he simply have a dream of vengeance. He absolutely needs revenge. Revenge fills and feeds his soul, nourishing it with delight from hell with every blow of the whip Dimmesdale deals to himself. Roger devotes himself to finding out the identity of Pearl’s father. It sounds impossible to find out something like this without the consent of one of the parties, but “there are few things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery,” (64). He does the impossible with pure power of will and determination. His determination is being fueled by his knowing that “sooner or later, he must needs be [his]” (65). Therefore, Roger’s identity is revenge but solely on Dimmesdale. What happens to Roger, then, if Dimmesdale is to break away from the torments of Roger or if Dimmesdale suddenly dies? Dimmesdale takes roger’s identity, his soul’s very nourishment, to the grave with him and soon Roger’s soul starves and he
10/16/11
Period 4
Who Are You?: An analysis of identities in The Scarlet Letter
Identity, what is it? Is it a name? Is it defined by what we do, where we work or how hard we play? Is identity categorized by a moment from our past or is it defined by the present? Is identity of a person only one definite thing or is it dependent upon the observer? According to Nathaniel Hawthorne identity is definite, unchangeable, and can be defined by one single moment in a person’s life. To Hawthorne identity is more than just what your driver’s license says and what your social security number is, but is the thing you obsess over. This is why, in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, characters’ lives effect their inescapable …show more content…
Hester Prynne is defined in The Scarlet Letter by the letter she wears on her chest. When told of the magistrates’ intention to take off her letter Hester replies “It lies not in the power of the magistrates to take off this badge,” (144). The magistrates, Hawthorne would say, cannot take off the scarlet letter because the scarlet letter is not only cloth on Hester’s shirt but is actually Hester’s identity. Hester’s identity cannot simply be changed into something different by the disappearance of something on her chest. Not only that, but her identity literally cannot leave her, even for an instant. Even when she is able to leave the place of her punishment at the end of the book, she still must come back after Pearl is grown and replace the letter on her chest and “Never afterwards did it quit her bosom” (225). She has to have the letter. It is a deep part of her. It is sewn not only through her shirt but sewn directly to her soul. She must come back to it. Hester cannot leave the “A” it is a part of her it would be like leaving her arm …show more content…
Roger needs revenge on the father of Hester’s baby. He doesn’t want revenge, nor does he simply have a dream of vengeance. He absolutely needs revenge. Revenge fills and feeds his soul, nourishing it with delight from hell with every blow of the whip Dimmesdale deals to himself. Roger devotes himself to finding out the identity of Pearl’s father. It sounds impossible to find out something like this without the consent of one of the parties, but “there are few things hidden from the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery,” (64). He does the impossible with pure power of will and determination. His determination is being fueled by his knowing that “sooner or later, he must needs be [his]” (65). Therefore, Roger’s identity is revenge but solely on Dimmesdale. What happens to Roger, then, if Dimmesdale is to break away from the torments of Roger or if Dimmesdale suddenly dies? Dimmesdale takes roger’s identity, his soul’s very nourishment, to the grave with him and soon Roger’s soul starves and he