The Scarlet Letter: Puritan America Of 1850

The Scarlet Letter

By Sarah Johnston

Nathaniel Hawthorne used his writing skills to appropriately show the strict intolerant ways of the disciplined Puritan America of 1850, with his novel The Scarlet Letter. This novel has become a classic, because of the accurate portrayal of the conservative Puritan ways. His novel is one of few to tell of the true Puritan lifestyle. Hawthorne explains the ways in which society cast out any individual for standing apart from the common crowd. The ways in which a person was punished by an entire community, only because their own ideas deviated from the common morals or values. And best of all, Hawthorne shows the way a "good Christian society" would lash out at anything they were afraid of.

The first
chapter of the novel introduces the main character Hester Prynne. She is being publicly humiliated as a punishment for breaking a puritan belief and one of the ten commandments, adultery. She stands in front of the town for hours as the crowd tries to break her down with criticism and shaming words. After this she is given her punishment of being forever branded with her sin by wearing the letter "A" on her chest, as a constant reminder to herself and the town of her sin. She is thrown out of the town and is no longer a community member. She suffered these ordeals and punishments because she was a mystery to them, she was different from them all. These perfect puritans threw her out of their lives because she was not mainstream, and she dared to do something they were forced to deny themselves.

The Puritans' fear is what drives them to outcast Hester. A group of people with such over powering ethical beliefs has to focus their anger somewhere. They all live in fear they themselves will be outcast. So when the opportunity arises, they persecute someone else. The women all see Hester as a threat, because they are unsure of who the male partner was that participated in this act of sin. So the women who push for a more harsh punishment, act out not only due to the lack of morals behind her sin but they have an underlying selfish need as well. But everyone in the Puritan community can agree that Hester no longer deserves to be in their society, because she is not the same as them. She has proven she can not conform to the community's value system so now she must wear the "A" on her chest. The town people want everyone to see she is different. Since she committed a defiant act, she will wear an obvious bright sign, to visualy show the difference between herself and the mainstream.

While Hester is living alone in a cottage, her illegitimate daughter Pearl comes into the story.
She also is a sign of Hester's wrongdoing, and a constant reminder to the town of the sin. The Puritans automatically despise the child. She is the daughter of sin there fore she also is different. Society avoids both of them from fear they may too become something unknown, may be looked at differently from their peers. So the towns people continue their lives conforming to whatever society excpects from them. While at the same time Hester lives in isolation and gains a true sight of the community. She sees their lives objectively and gains a new insight into their pain and grievances. While the Scarlet letter is meant as a punishment, without it Hester would never know this detachment that lets her see the truth of the Puritan people. She could clearly see the sin each man or woman had of their own, and their fear and desperation to hide it. So while some find Hester's pride in her letter "A" unusual, the reader can understand where her pride comes from. She may not be directly proud of her sin, but she realizes she is honest about what she chose to do. Hester becomes a better person with the lessons she learns from her punishment. She knows there is no reason for her to hide her shame as all of the others do, because she is honest about her values and choices. Her lesson is: while she may not have conformed to the mold of society, she knows she is a better person because of
that. She can admit her rights and wrongs to herself and society, while everyone else lives in fear and keeps their own sins hiding in their hearts.

Throughout the novel it is mentioned the letter becomes more elegant and glamorous.
This is a symbol for what the letter has come to mean to Hester. While it was meant for a punishment, society began to see the letter as something beautiful, because it seems to have set Hester free. The Puritans may see the letter gaining in beauty because they find the separation appealing, an escape from their own secrets and
pain.

A good example of fear to break away from conformity is Arthur Dimmesdale's character. He is overwhelmed with guilt for letting Hester be punished for an act he also participated in. Dimmesdale is the embodiment of cowardice, envious of Hester's courage. He wishes he too could break away from the conformed ways that have swallowed his life. Yet he will keep all of his guilt and painful emotions inside, all because of his fear of being looked down upon by his society. He can not risk being outcast from his high position in the community. He would rather punish himself by concealing these over powering feelings of guilt and pain, because in his mind there is no punishment worse then being different, being outcast. He sees and understands the courage Hester possesses and shows by proudly exhibiting her letter, and by taking the punishment. While he can not help but hide his feelings, he envies the way Hester is set free by her confession. "Happy are you Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom!"
Dimmesdale thinks that if he punishes himself for the sin, then his guilt will go away. Throughout the story he goes through many ways to punish himself, such as fasting, staring at himself in the mirror for hours, whipping himself in the closet, and practicing at the scaffold how he will confess the next day. He continues to delude himself thinking that being harsh on himself will make up for his dishonesty and deceptions. Even though he keeps all of his emotions silent, it eventually wears him down so much that it becomes noticeable in his appearance. "...His cheek was paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before-when it had now become a constant habit....to press his hand over his heart.." So until his very end, he keeps all of these feelings inside like all of the others. He is hiding behind a character of purity and value, all in fear of being seen for whom he really is; an individual.

Whether courageous Hester is analyzed or Dimmesdale's cowardice character, the results are the same. During a time that was filled with strict morals and very conservative ideas, the most important value in self-learning and maturity was the realization of individuality. This time period strongly frowned upon diversity, so the struggle to express oneself was extremely difficult. This novel was very focused on teaching the idea of valuing your own morals and ideas above everyone else's. Even when the battle is you versus everyone, even when a large conformed society is very hard to fight.