In the Scarlet Letter, Hester faces discrimination based on the beliefs about her “crime”-- adultery. In today’s society, people see homelessness as a “crime”, often stereotyping the homeless by associating them with drugs and mental illness. Both adulterers in Puritan society and the homeless in today’s society experience discrimination and undergo the feeling of isolation as a result of being different from normal society. In today’s society, many people discriminate the homeless, much like how Puritan society ostracizes Hester. The homeless are often used as scapegoats for problems in society, such as criminal activity. This is similar to how people in Puritan society blame Hester for any troubles that happen. Both groups face scapegoating because they are seen as different in society, making them easy targets. Nowadays, politicians, as a means of trying to improve society, have been criminalizing the homeless. This in turn stereotypes the homeless and perpetuates the misconception that all homeless people are criminals. An example of this would be the bill in San Francisco that, in order to prevent bike thefts, makes it unlawful for the homeless to own five or more bike parts. This not only criminalizes homeless who make little money off of recycling and selling bike parts, but also continues to put aside that not all homeless are criminals. Furthermore, homeless who try to get jobs to earn money also get discriminated based on stereotypes. When homeless people apply for a job, usually low-wage employers, these companies see the address of a homeless shelter or no address at all and immediately think that the applicants are either drug addicts or have mental illnesses. Many of these people are …show more content…
They both faced discrimination and isolation because society viewed them as “different” for not conforming to the norms of society in their time
In Social Problems, Anna Leon-Guerrero (2016) she states, “… The functional perspective, examines the functions or consequences of the structure of society. Functionalist use a macro perspective, focusing on how society maintains social order” (13). Society has created expectations on what is viewed as acceptable or unacceptable behavior and this can include criminal behavior. This is any deviation from the social norms that are agreed by the majority of the community and the violation of any existing laws that is passed by legislation. For an example, a single parent losses’ his or her job and are worried whether the rent is covered with his or her last paycheck or whether they will qualify for food stamps.
Respondent three would like to say to people that have stereotypes towards the homeless to know that homelessness are people that are less fortunate and going through tough times. Homelessness are making a difference in a good
A man on the street, sitting on the landing in front of a business, a woman on the side of the street begging for a job, meanwhile her family is sleeping in their car, an individual standing by the interstate hoping for a ride - all these images may represent many thoughts of homelessness. Stereotypes. Society places so many stereotypes for the homeless because individuals placed in these difficult situations do not measure up to society 's idea of success. The homeless population often faces stereotypes placed on them without people even knowing the circumstances or situations. Often no one knows how fortunate he or she is until something bad happens to put life into perspective.
Another stereotype that has established itself in society’s mindset is that all homeless people are criminals. In the online Huffington Post article, “10 Facts About Homelessness,” written by Bill Quigley, the author asserts that “Jerome Murdough, a homeless former Marine, was arrested for trespass in New York because he was found sleeping in a public housing stairwell.” In all reality, if any homeless individual commits a crime, they are not dangerous crimes rather they are status crimes. Status crimes include trespassing, loitering, or sleeping on public property. Nonetheless, if a criminal had committed serious crimes such as murder or involvement in drug, they would be behind bars, not lurking on the streets.
Amy Taxin and Geoff Mulvihill’s blatantly titled article “Don't help the homeless, critics say - it hurts them” works as a counter to my claim. The article describes how the good intentions and actions, such as camps and free resources (toilet paper, showers, etc.) only enable and prevent the homeless from a desire to move. Logos helps to develop the claim.
Criminal Homeless Imagine yourself without a job and receiving a final note from your bank stating that you only have a week to dislodge. In consequence, you become homeless as a bug of society and if you sleep in any bench or under a bridge, you will end up in jail. Many people have been suffering such cruel reality due to their poverty. Barbara Ehrenreich, a political activist and author in her essay “Is it Now a Crime Being Poor?” discusses the problems of the US correctional system about the treat of homeless people. She explains how they are sent to jails for minor crimes.
According to Thomas Brooks, "Sin in a wicked man is like poison in a serpent; it is in its natural place. " Many can argue that the Puritan democracy was very corrupt. Stephen Foster, the author of the essay, “Puritanism and Democracy: A Mixed Legacy” states, “New Englanders admitted that no man could read the law of nature alright, that all men were equally corrupt.” Because of this corruptness, Puritans struggled to create a democracy, never viewed others as equals, and even after trying to create a democratic government, they acted as hypocrites.
Homelessness is one the most ignored problems in the United States with citizen and politician. Homeless people are walked by and ignored. Nobody ever thinks that they will be homeless. Due to the economy, people live paycheck to paycheck making house payments very difficult. Most people will want to believe most homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, but most people will be surprise to know that it is no all true.
Homeless people. Lazy. Criminals. Addicts. These are just a few of the many things that come to people’s minds.
Although the community originally knew Hester as a disgrace, the town’s opinion of her changed over time as she began to do work for the poor and needy. After this shift in the town’s view of Hester, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet [letter] by its original signification” (111). Instead of Hester’s scarlet letter serving as a reminder of her scandalous sin, her peers “ had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as a token . . . of [Hester’s] many good deeds” (111). She became known for her charity and generosity, which caused the civilians to overlook her sinful behavior.
The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”
In the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays hypocrisy of the Puritan society, where the protagonist Hester Prynne face many consequences of her actions and the how she tries to redeem herself to the society. During the seventeenth puritans believe that it is their mission to punish the ones who do not follow God’s word and it is their job to stop those from sinning. Therefore, the hypercritical puritan society punishes Hester harshly for committing adultery, but in Hester’s mind, she believes that what she did was not a sin but acts of love for her man. Eventually, she redeems herself by turning her crime into an advantage to help those in need, yet the Puritan society still view her as a “naughty bagger.” (Hawthorne 78)
Feminism is the philosophy advocating equal political, economic, and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this, Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne.
It is a large complex ongoing societal problem throughout communities that no one can stop. All societies have homeless people and, on the contrary, all have rich people; It is just how a society works. In my eyes, the richer of society are much more appreciated than the homeless. Because the people with money can afford to pay for housing, living, and nice things, society favors them and pushes aside the homeless. I do believe that if society took more notice of homeless people the situation could change.
(Hall, 127). This idea of a fair and just society was the centerpiece of Puritan society, and it subsequently led to the virtue of community over the individual which was previously discussed. When it comes to The Scarlet Letter, the ideology that Puritan morality is fundamental to everything is truly front and center. Hester’s struggle due to her past sin is a perfect example of this; The ministry attempted to purify and protect the community by excluding Hester from societal affairs, even going as far as attempting to strip Hester of her custody of Pearl. Overall, Hester’s forced