January Lit Analysis

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

1.    Hester Prynn, an unfortunate lover, was sent to America with her daughter, without the father ever meeting them in the new world. Hester's lonely travels in America led her to have an affair. The story begins explaining the meaning of the red A that Hester wears upon her chest to show that she has been marked as an adulteress. Though Hester is heckled and ridiculed, she is charitable and kind to the community, and therefore the community develops a bond with Hester and her daughter. As things seem to go smoothly, Chillingworth, the father disguised as a medicinal man, becomes close with Hester and the authorities of the village. Dimmesdale is then watched over by Chillingworth, who is secretly planning to kill the man, but first to expose him as the man that Hester had loved. Dimmesdale's distress and urgency, because he is a preacher, leads him to an unbearable discovery at the end of the story in front of the town, where he dies upon the scaffold that introduced at the very beginning.

2.    The main theme I saw in this novel was that of the identity that society seems to assign to each character, whether they like it or not. An obvious example is with Hester Prynne who is forced to wear the scarlet letter, or move to a different town and forget about the letter. Hester refuses to leave town and to some this may seem odd because she could live a normal life, but to her it makes perfect sense. Leaving town would give the notion that society had won, instead she keeps the letter and wears it as a reminder of who she is and how her past actions/sins have made her who she is.

3.    During the time this novel was written, Puritans were renowned for their morality and religious intolerance. In the Scarlett Letter, Hawthorne through his tone shows his views on Puritan society in a disapproving way.

4. Rhetorical question- “Is there not law for it?” page 45

Metaphor- “poor little Pearl was a demon offspring” page 88

Oxymoron- “die daily a living death” page 153

Anaphora- “Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women-in the eyes of him whom thou didst call thy husband-in the eyes of yonder child!” page 65

Simile- “The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand.”

Allusion- “Divine Maternity” refers to the Virgin Mary and is used to describe Hester Prynne

Flashback- This entire story is basically a flashback. The narrator stumbles upon a manuscript describing the events that unfolded and he reads these descriptions to us.

Situational irony- Chillingsworth is Hester’s old husband in disguise.

Symbols- Hawthorne uses many symbols in this novel including the scarlet letter (shame and identity for Hester) and Pearl (Hester’s living scarlet letter).

Characterization:

1.    Direct characterization: “But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity…” and “beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion” Direct characterization seemed to give away the tiny details that were almost irrelevant, but still important enough as to help progress the story and paint a more vivid picture of each character. They were more used as descriptions of appearances whereas indirect characterization gave insight to the personalities of each character. Some examples include Hester choosing to keep the scarlet letter on as opposed to leaving town and starting a new life, and also Chillingworth’s decision to go undercover and seek revenge on the man who had an affair with his wife.

2.     When describing the important characters in the story, I notice that you can divide them from the normal cast by noticing the change in syntax. The descriptions of the characters also seem to change in diction, for the characters become more animated by the writing and the sentences are long and descriptive so that you may judge the character, similar to how the people in the story judge her. Simply by face value.

3.    Hester Prynne is a dynamic and a round character. Because of her punishment, she is alienated and becomes a contemplative thinker. She has lots of time to speculate about moral questions and human nature. This matures her character and makes her more motherly and independent. She is a round character because of the wide array of emotions and characteristics she displays such as anger, love, compassion, caring, and hatred.

4.    I feel like Hester Prynne was just another character that I read because her choice to defy society is so different from what people nowadays would do. It makes her an admirable character, but hard to view as a realistic one. In today’s time, people would rather go with the flow of things than stand out.