Kira Newell
Honors American Studies P3
9/22/14
Prompt #2 The Forest Is Your Oyster Amidst the emotionally stagnant and vengeful atmosphere of 17th century Boston, society rarely acknowledges the raw and transparent passion of the nature around them. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, the emotions characterized by the surrounding forest acts as an antithesis to the strict rules of puritanical society. The citizens associate sin and evil with the daunting unknown forest while others find it to be a sanctuary of solitude forgiveness. Hester Prynne is forced to wear an A on her chest to represent her sin of adultery. To escape the harsh and endless judgments of the other citizens, she moves to a cottage near the edge
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When asked who her father was and where same from she replied "she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison-door" (Hawthorne). This bush represented Hester's sin of passion and thus shows that Pearl's very roots were planted with sin and passion. Although Hester struggled between a life in the forgiving woods or in a judgmental society, Pearl only grew up with one half of the argument. She had a strong " trait of passion . . . The child could not be made amenable to rules. The mother's impassioned state had been the medium through which were transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life . . . Above all, the warfare of Hester's spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl." (Hawthorne 83). This is why the society views Pearl as a devilish child. She is born with all of the qualities that are found in Nature. Born out of honesty and passion she fits in the forest well. During one of their trips in the forest the brook was described to "whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed . . . the streamlet kept up a babble, kind, quiet, soothing, but melancholy, like the voice of a young child that was spending its infancy without playfulness" (Hawthorne). The narrator describes this forest scene almost as if it were an unguided child, just like Pearl. Society doesn't accept Pearl because she is a child of
The day a child is born they are pure, no negative thoughts or connotations. The mother and father see an innocent canvas ready to be painted by the world, in some cases the child is a blank canvas that the
When two authors from distinctly different societies and historical periods build stories around the same theme, there is an undeniable importance in the message being delivered. One of the authors bringing this message about is author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan women in seventeenth century Boston, Hester, having committed adultery, is branded with a scarlet ‘A’ on her chest. The story describes the animosity that society feels towards her and her daughter Pearl, through the story Hester redefines the meaning of the ‘A’ and Pearl’s life is formed in a new light. While the setting of twentieth century Baltimore is unlike that of early Puritan society, The Other Wes Moore
Hester Prynne of Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter defies the Puritan belief system through her rebellion and compassion. Hester defies the Puritan belief system through her rebellion. Hester Prynne, while in Boston waiting for her husband to come from Amsterdam, commits the crime of adultery and gives birth to a child, causing her to be punished. Hawthorne describes her crime in dialogue between Hester’s husband, who has just arrived in Boston and is unaware of Hester’s circumstances, and a towns member who infers as to what she has done and how much of an uproar it has caused, during her public punishment, in the government forces her to stand on a scaffold for three hours and condemned to wear an A on her chest
The words of Jonathon Swift ring true throughout literature, where the protagonist of a story is often at odds with the social and moral values of their environment. This situation is beautifully exemplified in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism and imagery are used to reach the meaning that casting people away from society is ultimately wrong. The juxtaposition of the forest and the town, and the place in between where Hester lives, is used to show that punishing Hester by banishing her was uneffective.
forest is like a best friend. It treats her as if she were one of its own. The
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very important and symbolic role. Hawthorne uses nature to convey the mood of a scene, to describe characters, and to link the natural elements with human nature. Many of the passages that have to do with nature accomplish more than one of these ideas. All throughout the book, nature is incorporated into the story line. The deep symbolism conveyed by certain aspects of nature helps the reader gain a deeper understanding of the plight and inner emotions of the characters in the novel.
She was conceived by mistake, and is born into a miserable life. In other words, Pearl does not fit in. And it is not that she does not want to but for the fact that she cannot fit in. “ In giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder…” (Ch. 6). In this quote, Hawthorne is showing that Pearl is a complicated child. She is conceived within a sin, but turned out to be a truly amazing child. Also, Pearl knows how and why her life is like this. For example, Pearl notices that Dimmesdale is her father, but she wanted him to show it publically. “‘Doth he love us?’ said Pearl, looking up, with acute intelligence, into her mother’s face. ‘Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?’” ( Ch. 19). Pearl is too smart to let this go unseen. She also notices that Hester takes off the scarlet A in the forest and she throws a
Hester committed adultery, which was believed by the puritans to be a horrible crime. Because of this she lives everyday with the constant reminder of her sin from "Scarlet Letter" she is forced to wear on her bosom. Hester is also pushed away from everyday society, and forced to live a hidden and lonesome life. While in prison she is presented with her first child Pearl, who gives her a small amount of comfort. For Pearl was still too young to communicate and connect with Hester. Eventually Pearl matures to become Hester's one and only true confidant and friend. Finally sharing some feelings of warmth and comfort with Hester. The same applied to the rose bush. After years of torment, it reaches a point in its life where it is strong enough to present to the world the beauty it
Every human being needs the opportunity to express how he or she truly feels, otherwise, the emotion builds up until they become volatile. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, life centers on a rigid Puritan society which does not allow open self-expression, so the characters have to seek alternate means in order to relieve their personal anguishes and desires. Luckily, Hawthorne provides such a sanctuary in the form of the mysterious forest. The forest is a sanctuary because it allows the freedom to love, the freedom to express emotions, the freedom for sympathy and the freedom to be one’s self.
One can infer this because her name. “But she named the infant Pearl, as being a great treasure to her mother.” A pearl is white, which is the color of innocence.
“She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest" (Hawthorne 180). Throughout the “Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to depict significant themes and to implant compelling ideas or images within the intellect of a reader. Anything at all can be considered a symbol whether it’s a person, action, or even just a word. In this case, nature played a major role to symbolize innumerable concepts to compare an individual to society. The forest throughout the novel symbolizes nature’s connection to man as a place with no boundaries, full privacy, and impedes the rigid social order of a Puritan society.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne associates the natural world with negative elements to suggest that it is ultimately evil. Using the woods as a representative of nature, Hawthorne associates the environment with particular characters to portray it in a negative manner. The setting is visited by individuals such as the main character Hester Prynne; Roger Chillingworth, the vengeful spouse of Prynne; and Mistress Hibbins, a woman who is rumored to be a witch. Hawthorne uses Mistress Hibbins’ negative connotation and has her ask Hester whether she wants to go into the forest, for “[she] wellnigh promised the Black Man” that Prynne would join (106). Hawthorne additionally portrays the woods in an evil way when he has Prynne suggest
In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.
Everyone asks why they should get their vaccines, but they don’t realize the risks their taking if they don’t get vaccinated. Adults are more at risk to catch diseases than children. Some reasons you should get your vaccines are because you may be at risk for many serious diseases that can be prevented by vaccines. You can reduce your chances of spreading a disease to your friends and family. Last but not least you don’t want to get sick, when you get sick there’s too much that you could miss. Being sick can cost you so much of money and memories.
In East of Eden Steinbeck portrays Cathy as a near – inhuman creature of seemingly inherent evil, the idea of timshel implies that she has power to choose her own path. I personally feel like Cathy was born a moral monster rather than she becoming one on her own. Yes, she was born like any other person but she always had a different aroma than most people that set her different from most.