“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is set in the 1640’s Massachusetts Bay colony. During the time the novel was set in adultery was looked down upon, of course it still is but it does not involve a whole town, like it used to. I had first read this novel in 10th grade, and I was very confused by everything that happened in it. Reading it over, now that i'm older I realize how much symbolism is in it, the meteor, Pearl, even the scarlet letter itself. Hawthorne’s novel is definitely for an older audience, with a dictionary close by, once you truly understand the book you can enjoy it much more!
One of the main things that really confused me when I first reading the novel was the significance of the meteor. While reading it I realized it had actually somehow traced out the letter A in the red sky, much like what Hester had on her chest. I believe this signifies that Mr. Dimmesdale needed to accept his own punishment for adultery, he was suffering in secrecy, while Hester had to do it all by herself. Right after Pearl had asked him if he would stay on the stage all night until the morning and his answer was no, the meteor appeared, like a sign, from a higher power, a supernatural power. Mr.Dimmesdale needed to show the town that he was the father of Pearl, but he wasn’t because he didn't want to ruin his reputation.
Pearl becomes the a personified Scarlet letter for both Hester and Mr.Dimmesdale. Hester is reminded everyday that she committed a sin, adultery, by not only the red letter that finds home on her chest, but by her own daughter. Pearl also becomes Mr.Dimmesdale's scarlet letter, although they aren’t usually around each other, any time they are, she reminds him of the wrongdoing he committed. Although Mr.Dimmesdale held in his secret for so long, eventually he does show the rest of the town his own scarlet letter, then finally he is accepted by Pearl, his scarlet letter.
While re-reading this novel I realized how much It reminded me of other novels I have already read. The first one that came into mind was the Crucible, which was about the Salem Witch Trials. It just seemed like the characters in the novel liked to relate everything to magic, and witches, and the devil. In the Salem witch trials they did this too, they believed that witches were real and anything they couldn’t explain was witchery. Upon more research I found that Hawthorne was actually related to John Hathorne, a judge during the trials. Hawthorne was probably fascinated by the fact that he was related to a man that was such an influence during the time that he believed he could write a novel that could have been set during that time.
One thing I like about these reactions is that we are able to dive deeper into novels, we are able to focus on things that we usually don't. I was very hesitant to read this book again, I disliked it so much the first time. Although I felt that I should give it justice and re-read it. So many other people have read it and they said they enjoyed it a lot. I thought they were crazy but I see where they are coming from now. For the first time, I have actually re-read a book, I have never done it before because I always think I wont be surprised with what I read, because I knew everything that was going to happen, but re-reading a book can be very beneficial and enjoyable, especially when its been such a long time since the last time you read it.
No comments:
Post a Comment