Published writer‚ Anne Lamott once said that “Perfection is shallow‚ unreal‚ and fatally uninteresting.” Fatally uninteresting… an ironic phrase in the context of the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ written by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ due to the unraveling climax and fate of the protagonist. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Hawthorne uses a strong character vs. society conflict and symbolism to illustrate that striving to be perfect and unjudged in the eyes of society can destroy a person’s will to live. Hawthorne
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The weird ethical hazard to Hester in her loneliness was that it gave her moreover small chance for demonstrative interaction with other people. Hawthorne forced the readers to ponder that how a woman committing adultery is a major offence in a hypocritical society. Hawthorne symbolized Hester as an agent and a rebel who violates laws as Tony Tanner offered a likely justification by saying that: “the adulteress represents a violation of social contract and the harmonic interrelation of clearly defined
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The Nature of Evil Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works “The Scarlet Letter” and “Young Goodman Brown” are literature classics. Hawthorne thoroughly portrays his main themes and ideas in these works. Both of these works illustrate the effects of evil on the human soul. Through Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” and “Young Goodman Brown” we can clearly see that evil causes people to judge other people‚ evil corrupts one’s faith‚ and that evil has the power to transform the human soul. In “The Scarlet Letter”
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J. Bish Ms. Mongomery English 2 20 June 2011 A Walk in the Woods In his dark short story‚ Young Goodman Brown‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne explores that everyone has two sides‚ a good and a bad. This story is based in the town of Salem‚ Massachusetts‚ where the historic Salem witch trials took place. This story is an example of what people thought and kind of what went on during the witch trials. At first glance the story is about a man’s late-night walk in the forest to
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“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen R. Covey. In The Scarlet Letter there are many examples of people that caused events to happen because of the choices they made. Throughout The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne repeatedly shares examples that show how choices affect the circumstances that follow. Choices that lead to circumstances are shown through Hester’s decision to commit adultery‚ Roger Chillingworth’s decision to come find her‚ as well as Arthur
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In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ the relationship between Hester and the community parallels the symbolic metamorphosis of Hester’s scarlet letter. The Puritan society alienates and isolates Hester; her initial relationship with the community was despondent and detached. This averse relationship between the society and Hester was personified through the creation of the scarlet letter. Hawthorne establishes a direct correlation between the significance of the scarlet letter and the relationship
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Since Hester Prynne has sinned and demoralized the town of Boston‚ Massachusetts‚ there has been argument regarding the new mother’s punishment. People of the town have wondered if she should be able to keep her child‚ if she should be able to be one in the crowd‚ and even if she should be able to live. Hester Prynne’s consequences are not harsh enough for her unholy actions‚ and they should be modified to better suit God’s wishes. Hester Prynne should not be allowed to carry on in our society after
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Nathaniel Hawthorne portrayed symbolism throughout several of his pieces of literature to allow individual perception of a particular object. In Hawthorne’s short story‚ Young Goodman Brown‚ he mentioned goodman Brown’s “acquaintance” throwing him the staff or what looked like “a maple stick” to allow faster travel. (Young‚ 617) This staff includes a carved serpent around it that symbolizes an evil demon much like the devil from the Bible. “‘Come‚ goodman Brown!’ cried his fellow-traveler‚ ‘this
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In The Scarlet Letter‚ there are many scenes that are important to the plot and help reveal the story’s theme of sin and its consequences. The story is presented differently than most novels‚ however‚ Hawthorne presents the story as an omniscient feeling towards all characters‚ rather than a chronological explanation in order to show a unity of mood. Therefore‚ many of these important scenes do not focus on one character‚ but relate the actions of the four major characters together. There are
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Hawthorne’s tone SCARLET LETTER A) Hawthorne’s viewpoint of Pearl seems to be exceptionally adoring as he claims that her "beauty shined through the gorgeous robes" (Ch. 6) and there was a "circle of radiance" (Ch. 6) that shone about her. As more of Pearl is revealed‚ Hawthorne’s tone changes to a violent and threatening tone as he states that Pearl showed off a "variety of threatening gestures" (Ch. 7) and with much force she "screamed and shouted" (Ch. 7) at her enemies. B) Hawthorne’s outlook
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