In The Blood Rhetorical Analysis

Suszan-Lori Parks’ In The Blood criticizes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter because she dismisses religion as the only source of slut-shaming and brings the warning into modern times by demonstrating the downward spiral that Parks’ Hester cannot climb out of. By showing the audience how each aspect of Hester’s life holds her down, Parks’ reminds the reader that women are still demeaned for being sluts and that society is what drives the shaming, not just the religion in society. Hawthorne’s Hester is demonized in the eyes of her society but is able to stay above water with her skills and what she has. Parks’ Hester shows how someone who is low can get taken advantage of and can be drug down to an even lower place. When those who
were supposed to help her – The Doctor, Welfare, and Reverend D – use her for their benefit, she gets stuck in a spiral that she is too overwhelmed to escape from.