Perception And Reality In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Hetzel 1

The Battle Between
Perception and Reality

Nathan Hetzel
JD Peters
Honors English II 2nd Hour
10­9­14
Perception vs. Reality

Hetzel 2

Nathan Hetzel
JD Peters
Honors English II 2nd Hour
10­9­14
Perception vs. Reality There are many differences between reality and the perception of everyone else.
Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the ongoing conflict between a group’s concept of an individual, and the individuals real struggle that they deal with. The Scarlet Letter is a realistic example of the contradiction between the reality of life and the diluted comprehension of society.
Hester Prynne is the first character that readers encounter that society has judged. She
Until his final sermon, in which he reveals that he is the father of Pearl, no one except Hester and Chillingworth knew of his hidden guilt. The entire town praised and admired
Dimmesdale. At any sermon in which he says that he is the most sinful man, they do not question him. The people look at him with pure awe and feeling that he is the greatest because he admits that he too can sin because he is human. The entire settlement of Boston believe that
Dimmesdale was the most righteous man they have ever met, and he was their only chance of salvation so they can go to heaven if predestined. Through Dimmesdale’s over­glorified facade, you can find the truth in which he hides. Dimmesdale is not the Bible bound man everyone believes he is, he is the one who helped create the so­called elf child, Pearl.
Dimmesdale also shows his true cowardice in Chapter 12: The Minister’s Vigil. When
Pearl asks Dimmesdale, “Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, to­morrow noontide?”,
Dimmesdale responds with, “Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to­morrow! ... At the great judgment day, ... ” (102). Pearl did not
Hester is the only person who knows Roger’s true identity as ­ untold by him to anyone ­ Roger Prynne. Roger gives a false name from the start so the people of Boston

Hetzel 5

will not look at him differently because his wife sinned and had intimate relations with another man. While everyone assumes that Roger is indeed helping the Reverend, he is truly torturing him. Roger tells Hester, “Even if I imagine a scheme of vengeance, what could I do better for my object than to let thee live,­­than to give thee medicines against all harm and peril of life,­­so that this burning shame may still blaze upon thy bosom?” (49). Chillingworth does not care about the well being as the colony believes. The thing he wants to do is slowly tear apart Dimmesdale’s soul layer by layer as if he was peeling the pages off of a book. Adults are not the only ones susceptible to being judged by society. Sometimes the most innocent beings, are looked upon as the most corrupt.
Society often judges individuals before they even have a chance to defend themselves.
Sometimes, society judges an individual before they can even walk. In The Scarlet Letter, the society instantly judged Hester’s daughter, Pearl, soon after she was born. The town kids