Journals
Dialectical Journals Chapters 1-5
Chapter 1
“But on one side of the portal… was a wild rose-bush… which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in…” In this, Hawthorne is speaking of a rosebush growing by the entrance of a prison. It is a symbol of how, in this strict Puritan society, the only wild and free thing is this rosebush. Its beauty brings comfort to those entering the prison, and is rumored to have been created by Ann Hutchinson as she walked into the Boston Prison.
'On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done.... had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore…was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony.’ Hester embroidered the “A” in a very intricate way, transforming her punishment into something of her own. Even though the letter has condemned her to solitude, it has changed into a symbol of her abilities. .
‘like a man chiefly accustomed to look inward, and to whom … might have passed for calmness.’ The man who arrives at the market place is deformed with snakelike qualities: evil and menacing. He is deceptive, arriving as a stranger, when in fact he is Hester’s presumed-to-be-dead husband. He is like a snake waiting to strike at his victim.
‘Hester Prynne, therefore, did not flee….Hester established herself, with her infant child. Hester is alienated and forced to live away from the townspeople, but she doesn’t give up hope or run away from her problems. She accepts what she has done and shows that she is willing to accept the consequences. Her living between the forest and the town represents how her life is just sort of in the middle of nowhere.
‘there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every….rest of humankind.’ Even though the townspeople
Chapter 1
“But on one side of the portal… was a wild rose-bush… which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in…” In this, Hawthorne is speaking of a rosebush growing by the entrance of a prison. It is a symbol of how, in this strict Puritan society, the only wild and free thing is this rosebush. Its beauty brings comfort to those entering the prison, and is rumored to have been created by Ann Hutchinson as she walked into the Boston Prison.
'On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done.... had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore…was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony.’ Hester embroidered the “A” in a very intricate way, transforming her punishment into something of her own. Even though the letter has condemned her to solitude, it has changed into a symbol of her abilities. .
‘like a man chiefly accustomed to look inward, and to whom … might have passed for calmness.’ The man who arrives at the market place is deformed with snakelike qualities: evil and menacing. He is deceptive, arriving as a stranger, when in fact he is Hester’s presumed-to-be-dead husband. He is like a snake waiting to strike at his victim.
‘Hester Prynne, therefore, did not flee….Hester established herself, with her infant child. Hester is alienated and forced to live away from the townspeople, but she doesn’t give up hope or run away from her problems. She accepts what she has done and shows that she is willing to accept the consequences. Her living between the forest and the town represents how her life is just sort of in the middle of nowhere.
‘there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every….rest of humankind.’ Even though the townspeople