As the main points of the scarlet letter, sin and sinner are discussed seriously through the novel. In terms of Puritan, the main character, Hester Prynne, is an extreme sinner. She has gone against the Puritan way, committing adultery. Wearing the scarlet letter "A", the sin forces her into isolation from society and even from herself. However, compared with Arthur Dimmesdale, the unknown father of her baby, she is the happier one. In respect that Hester carried the sin openly while Arthur concealed it inside.
The opened sin stimulated Hester to be more brave meanwhile maintain the nature. Due to the desire to attain salvation, she brought benefits to other people. Employed as the village seamstress, she was strong and caring, helping anyone when he or she was in need no matter what responds she would receive. At the same time, she exerted all her power and passion to provide fit life to the daughter, Pearl.
The Scarlet Letter (1860) by T. H. Matteson. Oil o...
English: Hester Prynne & Pearl before the stocks
This is the title page for the first edition of Th...Although she was in gray costume all the times, Pearl was dressed with bright clothes, which reflects the vivid heart beating inside the mother. With time passing buy, she was respected by most members of the community because of the letter upon her bosom, for to many it represents able, and not adultery. Her strength to satisfy the needs of others and comfort them is a gift that many of the townspeople respect, and the word in town is that the letter does indeed stand for able. After suffered from the miserable experience, the letter could not conquer her soul. Later in the forest, Hester and Arthur met in the forest to discuss their future. Hester removed the scarlet letter, and dropped it on the ground. She then took off her cap, letting her beautiful, glossy brown hair shine in the rays of the forest sunlight. Here, Hester Prynne has made a significant change from her somber restrained doom to her fresh and flourish days long passed. She described the future shining days in the new ground as if the symbol of sin had never been there. Exhibiting evil to everybody, Hester struggled for seeking peace of soul. To be a woman full of strong passions, the sinner would not be defeated by the moral oppression from the scarlet letter, but extended her instinctive human pursuit.
"Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret. " (Hawthorne 217) Arthur Dimmesdale who is the secret lover of the lady cried that. Hester is strong with her letter, having it be a part of her for so many years, while Arthur has concealed his letter upon his chest, which gnawed out from his inner soul. On the scaffold his lady declared in the broad daylight, "I will not speak! And my child must seek a heavenly father; she shall never know an earthly one!" (Hawthorne 76) The very father stood beside as a respectable minister showing his dignity. And then he sneaked to the stage at midnight. The imprinted scarlet letter "A" in the flesh of his bosom is far away to comfort him. Actually the poor minister can never be saved from his guilt through physical torture. The admiration and respect people gave him was a string that almost had him strangled to die. The scarlet letter of in the spirit keeps reminding him of his sin. Therefore, Arthur is forced to deny his desire, his needs and even his humanity.
If Pearl is the living version of the scarlet letter, Hester holds her firmly while Arthur has no choice but to evade her. As a constant reminder for Hester about her sin, Pearl was the unique support to Hester. On the scaffold, the mother held the baby to her heart nearer and nearer. Hester tried her best to throw sunshine over the tiny features of her child under tough circumstance. Therefore, Pearl was able to grow up with innocent nature. When the government tended to take the child away from her, the brave mother stood up appealing to her right. At the moment, the only thing Pearl's father dared to do is expressing some thoughts depending on the doctrine. When Pearl was staring and smiling at him, caressing the daughter's head was a difficult work for the poor minister. Thus, he became a loser as a father.
Hester is the happier one that wears the scarlet letter openly on the dress of her bosom and then the letter shifts to presents her beauty and brave. Arthur imprinted it on his flesh. However, the guilt did not release him until he freed himself by revealing it before he died. Both of them endeavor to reveal the sin for salvation.
Works CitedWorks in EnglishHawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet letter. Beijing: Foreign language teaching and research press, 1 January 2006.
"Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter.".
Works in ChineseChen Suying (). "Qian tan Hongzi zhong de xiangzheng shoufa" (, "Research on the Application of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter"). . 4. 1997.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (â¢), , . , 2006.
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