Chapters 16-19

      These chapters were not brutally painful for me, which is a very good review for this book. In the later chapters the idea I have been anticipating throughout the entire novel surfaces. The idea to flee back to Europe. Why it has taken so long for Hester to raise this idea has confused me greatly, as it seems like such a simple plan, almost like common sense. the only way in which I can see why it has taken her so long to devise this is due to the Puritan way of thinking. Puritans tend to think a very specific way and just go along with the rules of society, this idea goes against that way of thinking in a sense, as it is cheating the system in a way.
      These chapters consist of multiple moments in the text that stood out to me. Multiple times, a passage that stood out to me had to do with Pearl. Although I will not be analyzing this passage there is a passage on the bottom of page 165 where Pearl points out to Hester that the sunshine does not shine on her and hints tat it is because of the scarlet letter. I found this very interesting, how Pearl constantly reminds Hester of her sin, and of the scarlet letter sewn to her bosom. Another passage in these chapters in which Pearl seems as though she is trying to shame Hester comes while they are still walking in the woods. Pearl says, "'I am not aweary, mother,' replied the little girl. 'But you may sit down, if you will tell me a story meanwhile.' 'A story, child!' said Hester. 'And about what?' 'Oh, a story about the Black Man,' answered Pearl, taking hold of her mother's gown, and looking up, half earnestly, half mischievously, into her face. 'How he haunt this forest, and carries a book with him, -a big, heavy book, with iron clasps; and how this ugly Black Man offers his book and an iron pen to everybody that meets him here among the trees; and they are to write their names with their own blood. And then he sets his mark on their bosoms! Didst thou ever meet the Black Man, mother?'"(167). I found that this quote was very interesting on two levels. In one sense Pearl is shaming her mother and reminding her of the scarlet letter and her affair with Dimmesdale, which Pearl seems to do frequently. On another note, this brings up questions about the rest of the town. Pearl is just a young girl but she is still able to figure out who her father is, but yet the rest of the adults in the town can't. Is the rest of the town truly not picking up on the hints of connection between Hester and Dimmesdale, or do they simply not want to believe that Dimmesdale could commit such a sin as the minster of the town. A second quote that stuck out to me did not display Pearl shaming Hester, it depicted how the letter had changed Hester in a way, It says, "But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed, from society, had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether foreign to the clergyman. She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. . . . The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers,—stern and wild ones,—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss"(180). This passage shows how the letter has changed Hester in a way that I think is positive. It shows how the letter has cast Hester out of society, causing her to escape the worn down way of thinking within the Puritan society. I think that Hester being able to think outside of the box in a way, leads to the idea of fleeing to Europe with Pearl and Dimmesdale.
     A gossamer thread that connects this book to the world today is the rise and fall of Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps is the single-most decorated athlete in Olympic history. Over his career he broke countless records, including winning an unprecedented eight gold medals in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. Although Phelps never cheated in any sense and passed every test for performance enhancing drugs he ever took, his gold reputation was stained. In February of 2009 a photo of Phelps went viral, in which he was smoking weed, and in. This relates directly to Hester and her scarlet letter. Although Hester was originally shamed by the whole town for committing adultery, her sin became less significant to people over time. The same scenario applied to Phelps, immediately after the photo went viral he received a large amount of criticism from people all over the world, and his name could not be mentioned without someone mentioning that he smoked pot. However, today that image of Phelps smoking is rarely mentioned when he is brought up in competition today, most of the time he is simply regarded as the greatest Olympic athlete of all time, regardless of the decisions he made in his personal life.




Phelps on the Sports Illustrated cover with his eight gold medals after the 2008 Olympics