Throughout the book Chillingworth reminds Hester of her wrong doing an example of this is when the novel states, “As he spoke, he laid his long forefinger on the scarlet letter, which forthwith seemed to scorch into Hester’s breast, as if it had been red-hot.”(Hawthorne 64) Chillingworth's efforts to please himself by making Hester feel guilty for her actions during his absence sways the way many things happen in the book, like at the end when he decides to join the voyage that Dimmesdale and Hester planned to escape
Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father. Both characters affect others and their own lives good and bad because of the secrets they keep.
In the book ‘ the Scarlet Letter’ Hester Prynne makes a lot of mistakes in her life, but She is trying to fix what She messed up on. She does a crime that will forever change her life forever. She has a child with another guy. She is a sinner, but She is also an object because some of the stuff She done can never be taken back. Hester will do anything to get her life back in order.
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter with a handful of characters and symbolic objects that truly influence the theme of this novel. Many important pairings and triads are involved through Chapter 8 of his novel, but perhaps the most important of the inventory of well connected triads is the one which relates to the theme of the novel. The triad of Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl best helps the reader comprehend Hawthorne’s theme of sin.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published in 1850. It focuses on the life of the main protagonist, Hester Prynne, living in a Puritan community. Both Yamin Wang and Maria Stromberg offer insight into The Scarlet Letter and analyze multiple aspects of the story.. Both Wang and Stromberg claim that there is an underlying ideology hidden in the texts of the book. Wang approaches the story from a feminist approach and states that Hester represents the feminism in the Puritan community, and she analyzes the Puritan’s outlook on women in their society. Much like Wang believes there is an underlying feminism aspect to the story, Stromberg claims that the story has a hidden, social issue. Similarly, Stromberg also analyzes an
Hester and Dimmesdale spend the course of the story trying to make things right, whereas Chillingworth spends the novel continuing to consciously live in his sin. The two of them are constantly working to try and make up for what they have done, though they beat around the bush. Hester still contributes to the town even though receives nothing but disgust and disrespect from its members, and Dimmesdale , Unlike Chillingworth, Dimmesdale is wise enough to be able to forgive after finding out that Hester has been hiding Chillingworth’s identity. “I do forgive you, Hester,’ replied the minister, at length, with a deep utterance, out of an abyss of sadness, but no anger. “I freely forgive you now. May God forgive us both! We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world.” (178-179). Due to his own sin, Dimmesdale understood what Hester was feeling and was able to rise above his anger and be merciful. If Chillingworth had been able to do the same and haf let go of his anger earlier, his fate might have been
What is justice to you? Well justice is different for everyone because we have all had different life experiences. In the scarlet letter, by nathaniel hawthorne, a woman named hester prim is punished for having a chilled out for welock. As her punishment she is forced to wear a scarlet A upon her clothing, with this mark she will become out cast and ridiculed by the town. Hester accepts the letter at first because it is the regulated punishment decided by the society and what they see as a just punishment. But then as the story progress she realizes that the same duration of the punishment isn 't always the best for the situation. But then by the end of the story she comes to the realization that the punishment doesn 't define her.
Often times, we interpret a novel at its face value, only reading the text on the page instead of really delving into the true meaning behind that text. Since that meaning is not explicitly stated, different readers can develop different interpretations of the same text. This idea of repeated hidden meanings throughout a novel is classified as a motif, and most of the time motifs are used in order to subtly convey ideas to the reader through seemingly plain text. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses motifs and symbols to convey subtle ideas, one example being his harsh criticism of Puritan culture. One of the most prominent motifs in his novel is the Black Man, an imaginary being who Hawthorne equates to the devil. Hawthorne employs
When Hester and Pearl are walking they notice Chillingworth with Dimmesdale. After Pearl throws a prickly burr at Dimmesdale she yells “Come away, Mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, Mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!” (p 115). In this quote Pearl can sense what an evil man Chillingworth really is. She knows where his true intentions lie, and what he really wants with Dimmesdale. Pearl knows that Chillingworth isn’t there to help him. He has a hold over Dimmesdale already, but he cannot catch her because she is the only one aware that he is out for revenge. She warns her mother to stay away, because she is blind to Chillingworth. For Chillingworth, Pearl is almost the reason as to why he wants to seek revenge on Dimmesdale. Whenever he looks at her, he knows that her father, the same man that committed adultery with his wife, is still out
Furthermore, The Scarlet Letter and 1984 both show the reader how an individual can use their personal, sometimes unfortunate, situation to their advantage thereby making both novels, that are set in different historical time periods, very similar.
The place of isolation can become the place of revelation. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne's life after having a child, Pearl, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was away and having to live with an A on her chest for adultery. The father of the child, Arthur Dimmesdale, had to live with the guilt and beat himself because of it and the truth remained a secret to almost everyone, except Chillingworth, who planned to get revenge on him because of his sin. Chillingworth became evil and changed because he wanted revenge on Dimmesdale and the guilt made Dimmesdale feel sick. Dimmesdale died after he told everyone the truth and Pearl gained a sense of compassion when she saw him dying. Isolation has a powerful affect is a recurring theme in The Scarlet Letter displayed through Hester, Pearl and DImmesdale.
In The Scarlet Letter, a very dominant theme is the struggle of true identity. Although, the theme varies for each person; identity either tests them or puts them to shame. For instance, Pearl struggles with identifying herself without knowing who her father is while Dimmesdale struggles with being the minister of the town and the father in hiding. As well as Chillingworth who covers his own identity as Mr. Prynne and struggles with ‘needing’ to know who the real father is just like Pearl. Hester Prynne; however, is a polar opposite by how she accepts and exaggerates who she is for the most part. For example, when she makes her and Pearl’s clothing and accentuates her sin with the A, “Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and the
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place in the Massachusetts Bay colony during the 17th century. The story revolves around a young woman, named Hester Prynne, who is forced by her community to bestow a scarlet “A” on her chest for the rest of her life in order to remind her of the adulterous sin and crime she has committed. As her punishment, in the form of public humiliation, Hester is constrained to stand upon a scaffold in the town square while holding her illegitimate baby, Pearl.
He puts Hester in a no-win situation by questioning her like this. If she exposes him, he loses everything and becomes a social outcast but is released from his moral burden. Staying silent, however, keeps Dimmesdale in his position of power but also prolongs his suffering and misery. His selfish attitude towards his atonement is at odds with his otherwise cool and collected countenance, showcasing a very scared and vulnerable individual.
His guilt and shame destroy him, physically, emotionally, and mentally. Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale as a prominent and brilliant reverend when giving sermons because he understands living with sin. Dimmesdale’s successes with his sermons are inspired by his own sins and he can connect with the people more. A young women carrying her child speaks to Hester saying, “Ah but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will always be in her heart” (206). The women holding the child shows compassion towards Hester, stating that she wants her child to be strong like her. Hester was once a symbol of sin, but now is a symbol of love because she became a person who dedicated her life to helping others. The mother of the child thinks Hester is a person of great strength and