The Scarlet Letter

[hp 4ever!]

What are your thoughts about this text....did u notice any symbolism?

[libra08]

well the rosebush next to da prison door is a symbolism.

[Neo93]

The scaffold where we meet Hester and Pearl is really significant. I mean, the puritans are sort of known for the fact that they were habitually nosy. The scaffold allows all of the rest of the puritans in the town to focus attention away from thier own flaws. If you were in a society that focused attention on those who made a mistake, wouldn't you be gald to be able to hide behind a scapegoat? Essentially, (although I haven't read the book in a year and also did quite abominably on the essay) Hester is being cast out like a witch. Hester's pregnancy merely gives an alibi to the village to hide behind her sins. This is why Hester is put in the exposed position of the scaffold. Watch for the symbol of the scaffold later on.

Also, why did Hester make her scalet letter so ornate? rather than hiding her sins, Hester freely acknowledges them, and spends her life trying to make up for them (i.e. helping the poor). It seems that Hester has some of the qualities that a good puritan should have.

Opinion time: do you think that Hester is a good character and Puritan?

[Carpetuation]

The great thing about this book is that basically everything in the book is a symbol. Pearl is a symbol of the scarlet letter. The scarlet letter is a symbol of sin. The prison door is a symbol of the strong, but soon-to-be-weakened-by-Hester's-story, Puritan religion. The rosebush is a symbol of morals, nature, and society's inability to control nature. The meteor is a symbol of how flimsy the Puritan religion is. Even Chillingworth's name is a symbol of the cold, heartless man he will become. Literally everything has a second meaning in this story. In my opinion, that is what makes this novel feel so well-written. The right amount of symbols (too many to remember!)

:bday_2: (Sorry, couldn't risist!)

EDIT: Forgot about your "Opinion time"
...
Hester represents a person who challenges the norm (Puritanism). So no, she is not a good Puritan. She is a good Antinomian (the people Puritans shun for showing their feelings).
...
And by the way, Puritans did everything for God. EVERYTHING. Trying to "make up for" her sins would make her a good Christian, or to be even more correct, a good HUMAN. Doing what's right. I'm definately not Puritan, but I believe in this!

[hellsapoppin]

There are many great things that can be said about TSL but one bad thing we can honestly say is that the intro is exceedingly LOOOOONNGGG and a bit boring. But it does add a fitting symbolism in that the reader is introduced to the letter ''A'' in the form of a cloth which cause great trepidation in the narrator:


''It was the capital letter A. By an accurate measurement, each limb proved to be precisely three inches and a quarter in length. It had been intended, there could be no doubt, as an ornamental article of dress; but how it was to be worn, or what rank, honour, and dignity, in by-past times, were signified by it, was a riddle which (so evanescent are the fashions of the world in these particulars) I saw little hope of solving. And yet it strangely interested me. My eyes fastened themselves upon the old scarlet letter, and would not be turned aside. Certainly there was some deep meaning in it most worthy of interpretation, and which, as it were, streamed forth from the mystic symbol, subtly communicating itself to my sensibilities, but evading the analysis of my mind.

When thus perplexed--and cogitating, among other hypotheses, whether the letter might not have been one of those decorations which the white men used to contrive in order to take the eyes of Indians--I happened to place it on my breast. It seemed to me--the reader may smile, but must not doubt my word--it seemed to me, then, that I experienced a sensation not altogether physical, yet almost so, as of burning heat, and as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red-hot iron. I shuddered, and involuntarily let it fall upon the floor.''


From my past readings of Hawthorne, I understand the author was greatly concerned with the everlasting consequences of evil. Here, an act of evil still had painful consequences many centuries later.

Indeed, Hawthorne's ancestors included one of the hanging judges from the old Salem Witch Trials. This may remind you that the Bible indicates that inequities would be visited upon the third and fourth generations of those who sin.

But here's a question: was adultery the only evil Hawthorne considered in this novel?

After all, the intro actually deals with documents re the death of Anne Hutchinson whose life was hampered by religious intolerance. She was unjustly accused of heresy, forced into exile, and this ultimately led to her death. Thus, is the real evil in Hawthorne's mind religious intolerance?

In truth, this is a subject that is not considered very much when people discuss the Hawthorne classic. But, in my view, this is the real sin he was attacking.

[Emem182]

This book is vomiting with symbolism...(I don't know where I got that saying). I'm only on chapter 8 as it is, but I love love love it. The prison door, the rosebush next to it, the way Hester dresses her daughter, the scarlet letter itself. It's all so symbolic. I really wish I could elaborate rather than ramble, but now I have to go.

[hp 4ever!]

I completely agree with all of your symbols, yet the unique aspect about it is that the symbols represent similiar things for each reader...I will care to elaborate on this more on Friday.
Excellent discussion though!

[CocoaZhenay456]

Reading The Scarlet Letter was reminded me of that commercial with the coin-collecting bunny in the game. As it collects coin after coin, it says, "there's another one ... and another one ... and another one ... and there's another one," and so on until it falls into a hole with lots of coins in one place. The novel is the game, the symbols in it the coins, and I am the bunny. I fall into no pits of abundant symbolism while reading the novel. It's just one after another after another after another. The good thing is, Hawthorne puts so much symbolism into his book, that after the first few chapters, one is so super-saturated with symbolism, any more successive symbols go unnoticed as the brain is already jammed. One must forgive my tone, however, because I really enjoyed the novel. The book is very well-written and the plot is interesting. Where Hawthorne directs the readers affections and sympathy toward Hester, my heroine is Pearl. She is not only smart, beautiful, and fun, but she doesn't allow the insecurities and pressures of others to dilute the potency and passion of her personality. She's awesome! I hated Dimmesdale; what a weak, cowardice, chump of a man. He's plenty man enough to compromise Hester by sleeping with her, but ask him to own up to it and all he can offer is a sorry expedition in the dark of night to ease his conscience? He should've thought about his ministry and "leading others to God" before he opened the floodgates of adultery. I was happy to see that Pearl wouldn't settle for his private fatherly affection. Somebody needed to make no allowances for Dimmesdale's coping out. Chillingworth is truly chilling. Even though he is the victim of the story, and Hawthorne doesn't give justice to that fact, he has no right to take it upon himself to avenge his broken heart. What he did to the self-absorbed Dimmesdale was just wrong. Pearl is definitely my favorite. No wonder things worked out best for her in the end! A good read! 4 out of 5 stars.:)

[mzmarymack]

Honestly, I didn't like SL. It's a great piece of literature, don't get me wrong. Hawthorne sure knows how to write, but I agree with Emem182: "This book is vomiting with symbolism"
And I don't consider that a compliment... but anyways,

Neo93 said, "Also, why did Hester make her scalet letter so ornate? rather than hiding her sins, Hester freely acknowledges them, and spends her life trying to make up for them (i.e. helping the poor)."

The embellished A represents the fact that this situation is not normal in any sense of the word.
A for adultery. but not adultery with just anyone. Dimmesdale. the minister. of all people, dimmesdale committed adultery. the town looked to him for guidance to get closer to God. yet, little did they know that he committed a heinous crime.

However, maybe Hester and Arthur are better people for committing adultery.
When you do something wrong, you try to repent for it. imagine doing something so horrific that you know you can spend an eternity trying to redeem yourself and not even come close. but you still have to try.
that's where hester and dimmesdale seem to be. okay it's weird calling one character by her first name and the other by his last name. hester and arthur are better people after they have committed their sin because they realize what sin they've committed. they spend the rest of their lives repenting. arthur tries to get people closer to God while Hester, later in her life, brings herself back to her prison to serve people, to suffer. she feels as though she got out of her punishment too easily. had arthur and hester not had relations out of wedlock, hester would probably turn into a typical townswoman. her life would be uneventful, meaningless. dimmesdale might have passion, but it could not compare. dimmesdale without his sin would not have the drive that he does. guilt is a mighty strong thing.

[curlyqlink]

I don't see much repentance in the book. It seems to me that Hester is defiant-- hence the ornate, scarlet "A". It's a slap in the face in light of Puritan sumptuary laws. Dimmesdale refuses to even acknowledge his sin, which to me indicates that he does not see it as a sin. He takes the coward's way out (concealment) while Hester takes the courageous path of open defiance, but they are both in rebellion against the harsh and unjust judgement of a repressive Puritan society.

I don't believe Hester lives a life of remorse. She goes about her business as best she's able, raising her child by herself and earning money with her needlework. If she is charitable at times, it is because she has a natural impulse toward charity... not because she is repenting for any sin.

[mzmarymack]

that's an interesting point. and ironic. the shame is there, but not from hester's own conscious, i think, but rather because society, her fellow townspeople, tell her that she should be ashamed. i think that hester is defiant, but dimmesdale? his actions make him seem compliant, accepting, docile, which show that he's trying to redeem himself by repressing his nature and his want to be with hester and pearl. he puts his position in society, the man who's supposed to be the link between the people and God, first. he has erred once, and he cannot seem to make the same mistake again. this is his redemption: dealing with constant guilt, hypocrisy. this reminds me of The Kite Runner by Hosseini. Amir's wife, Soraya finds a way to lessen her guilt (of her past) by telling Amir of her actions, but Amir, when he cannot find the strength to admit to his mistakes, has to live with the guilt, which is a hefty punishment in its own right. hester is like soraya in that she doesn't have to live with the guilt, which is why she's not looking for redemption, while dimmesdale, like amir, hasn't found the strength to confess and is inflicting himself with his own kind of torture--he can't get release until he confesses his crime, and once he does so, he has repented and dies with a clear(er) conscience.