In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the strict theocratic society of the Puritan settlement is used to set up a sort of foil for the main character.

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the strict theocratic society of the Puritan settlement is used to set up a sort of foil for the main character. Through this character he also incorporates the literary archetypes of the Civilization versus the Forest. Similarly, Miller also incorporates these schemes. They both speak of the undertones of corruption in the Puritan society. The Puritan setting also enables him to portray the each author?s main characters under extreme pressures. Thus, when comparing The Scarlet Letter, to The Crucible, one sees the similarities in the major themes of intolerance, and upholding reputation through hypocrisy. Additionally there are similarities in their motifs such as civilization versus the forest, but a contrast in each author?s embodiment of the nature of evil. It is through these similarities and differences of motifs and themes that each author seeks to portray his own opinions on an intolerant and hypocritical society. To convey the general message that as a strict and hypocritical society they open the door for dissent and seclusion from society.

~ Should I go ahead and give an intro to the topic of the embodiment of evil and the author?s purpose etc.? Or does the last body paragraph flow enough that it doesn?t need to be included in the thesis statements and its just a smooth transition of related but not different topics?. I go from the idea of the forest = evil to each authors perception of evil incorporated into their book.~

In The Crucible, Miller incorporates the theocratic and generally all round strict Puritan society as the setting of the book. Since Miller and Hawthorne use the Puritan society as there setting, they both create a conflict between their main characters and society caused by dissent of that main character from society(in both cases...