It is quite troublesome to understand the historic Puritan writing style used in the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. As a reader, I was not prepared for it, being unfamiliar with Puritan culture and lifestyle, like Morganne Gallagher. While continuing to read, I began to develop a better understanding of the novel. Its story became much more interesting and powerful afterwards.
After reading Chapters 5-8, I developed a snippet of pity for Hester. In the first four chapters, the mood and tone of the narration were dark and somber. This mood continues throughout the ensuing chapters. Starting from chapter 5, the narrator discusses Hester Prynne’s exclusion from the society she lives in and reveals her fine talent with the needle.
“Clergymen paused in the street to address words of exhortation, that brought a crowd, with its mingled grin and frown, around the poor sinful woman. If she entered a church, trusting to share the Sabbath smile of the Universal Father, it was often her mishap to find herself the text of the discourse” (Hawthorne 78-79)
The passage points out the trouble Hester Prynne has to deal with in the society. She does not fit into the Puritan culture anymore and is always reminded of the sin that she has committed. The passage also shows the life that is taken away from her after she is labeled as an adulteress. Even though she had a talent of creating excellent garments and clothes that are worn by the clergy, people saw her as if she was a demon. The moment she is condemned to wear an A on her chest, her entire image becomes distorted, and no matter how skillful she is with the needle, people would see her based on her label. My pity comes from her mistreatment by the community. People are not willing to let go or give her a chance to show that she can become a better person and are too quick to judge her. It feels like Hester is stuck in a dark hole and she can’t pull herself out all because of one action. Moving on to chapter 6, readers finally get a better insight of Pearl. Pearl is the creation of Hester’s sinful act as well as the light in her life. Pearl has inherited all of her mother’s characteristics and is perceived as the imp of evil since she was produced from Hester’s sin. Chapters 7 and 8 gave me the impression that the leaders of the Puritan society are heartless. They tried to take Pearl (Hester’s greatest treasure) away from her with no regard to the attachment that Hester has for her daughter. Without Pearl she may take away her own life. Hester is continuously wronged as the leaders do not trust her due to her sinful act. The passage “Woman, it is thy badge of shame!” replied the stern magistrate. “It is because of the stain which that letter indicates, that we would transfer thy child to other hands” (Hawthorne 101) directly indicates the impact of the label of adultery in this Puritan Society. It seems like she will never be trusted or forgiven for what she has done as people constantly remind her of the sinful act she has committed. After Hester’s continuous fighting for Pearl, Dimmesdale, however, is able to persuade Wilson and the other powerful leaders to let Pearl be - having gotten away with adultery himself. I perceived Dimmesdale's act as a repayment to Hester for keeping her mouth shut. Other than that, I felt sorry for Hester because her entire life seems to float away from her reach because of one mistake she had made. Everyone makes mistakes and people should be forgiven sometimes!
The distorting of Hester Prynne’s image is evident today. It can be seen in the sport, football. Michael Vick, a man who had the potential to become one of the sport’s greatest and favorite from many quarterbacks lost his entire glory when he was caught taking part in a sinful act. He was caught making dogs fight, killing poor innocent dogs for enjoyment. People labeled him as an immoral human being in our society today because what he did was too horrific to imagine. Fans started to look down at him and undermine his talent on the field, just like how Hester’s sewing work was overlooked. Michael Vick regrets what he has done and tries to rise back to grace - to little avail, mostly because many still look at him the same way. The difficulty of this recovery parallels that of Hester Prynne’s showing that one human mistake can change a person’s life forever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCBLsPjFj_Y
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