For example, “SEEFATHERHEISBIGANDSTRONGFATHERWILLYOUPLAYWITHJANEFATHERISSMILINGSMILEFATHERSMILESMILE". This part contradicts with the nature of Pecola's father which associates with weakness and hatred. The chapter also explains Cholly's miserable childhood; the denial of his father to him and his shame at the hands of white officers when they oblige him to have sex in front of them, the thing which led him to rape his daughter twice in order to take revenge of this painful memory. Consequently, the parts of Dick and Jane story are used by Morrison to show the irony in the character's
I have… known her. Danforth: You… are a lecher?” Later on Proctor replied, “No, Francis, it is true, it is true. She will deny it, but you will believe me, sir; a man will not cast away his good name, sir, you surely know that” (68). Although committing adultery in our society today is extremely looked down upon, committing adultery was a greater offense in the Puritan community that had major repercussions. Proctor made the choice to throw away his reputation to save his wife’s life.
Dimmesdale’s Punishment in The Scarlet Letter Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a brilliant spokesperson and a devout and wise Puritan minister in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is the lover of a woman who commits adultery, Hester Prynne. Hester, a recognizable adulteress, wears the scarlet letter and lives as an outcast. Contradicting, Reverend Dimmesdale’s sin stays hidden from the Puritan community, known only to Hester and himself. As a minister, Dimmesdale believes he should suffer from punishments the way Hester did for committing the same crime, which leads him to fall into a terrible mental and physical state. Reverend Dimmesdale suffers a greater punishment than Hester by experiencing recurring guilt, physical harm, and Chillingworth’s torment.
Despite the need for a constant principle of the Puritan life which included the need to purify and cleanse the church of all sin, John Proctor’s affair with Abigail Williams leads him to restrain from questioning and accusing others due to his extensive guilt and hypocrisy, while in contrary Abigail amplifies her sin by using her interminable love for John Proctor to manipulate the court and create a witchcraft hysteria in the town of Salem, in which many innocent people were accused. Although the affair has greatly affected both Abigail and John Proctor’s lives, there is no greater destruction that dwells upon them than the culmination of sin that their affair creates in opposition to the principles of the
These themes can be seen throughout the story as Mr. Hooper, the main character as a Reverend, punishes himself over a sin that is never revealed. He punishes himself to the utmost ability by blocking himself from the rest of the world, which in turn causes him to lose his social status and soon become a dark and mysterious man. Although society often frowns upon unexplained or uncommon beliefs, one should still be bound to them even if there are those who greatly oppose it, like Reverend Hooper had done in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Even though Mr. Hooper is in a healthy relationship with his wife, he says, “Know, then this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends. No mortal eye will see it withdrawn.
Sin is a prevalent theme throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. The main character, Hester Pryne’s sin of adultery instigates the entire novel. The novel follows Hester’s journey in dealing with her sin in a strict Puritan town. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides an example of how someone’s sin can affect many individuals. Hester’s sin not only affects herself, but also affects many other characters including the Puritans, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale and her daughter Pearl.
No matter the degree of sin each of us commits we are estranged from God to some capacity. It is common for the human person to fall prey to the approval of the world and forget or ignore God, who loves us despite the numerous times we reject Him. He even states how he remembers in his youth that he had wept for Dido for committing suicide because of love (The Confessions by St. Augustine, book 1), but he didn't weep for his own sins and transgressions for God. He could empathize with the tragic plight of a character in a book, but he didn't or couldn't recognize his own tragedy. I think it's all too common for a person to see the faults in someone else and feel sorrow for them, but at the same time, they are unable to acknowledge their own faults and get to the root of their sin.
As he watches his loved ones get murdered by the creature he created, he realizes that playing God is a dangerous game. One could argue that Victor starts off with these negative traits but then develops Justine’s traits like selflessness, bravery, and acceptance. While I do think he achieves these feelings as he progresses, I believe he only scratches the surface of what it means to truly be selfless or brave. He only develops these qualities because his irresponsible actions cause the death, directly or indirectly, of five people. Yes, he accepts his actions at some point, but he does so because of extreme circumstances.
The Priest himself, however, vehemently denies his status as a potential martyr: ‘There are good priests and bad priests. It is just that I am a bad priest’. As T S Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral emphasizes, one must do the right thing for the right reason. To lay down one’s life with the deliberate purpose of attaining sainthood or martyrdom would tantamount to expression of pride. The more the Priest rebuffs himself for his foibles, the more he shows the quality of humility.
He acts impulsively, and is greedy for power and knowledge, while being too ashamed and cowardly to repent. A basic principle of Christianity is the one of repentance. If Faustus is willing to repent, then Christ would save him. Faustus clearly knows throughout the entire tragedy that he is committing sin after sin, but he just will not repent. While it may be that Mephostophilis is forcing him to continue the pact he made with Lucifer, it is more that Faustus finds in the earthly power he