The Scarlet LetterEssay Preview: The Scarlet LetterReport this essayThe Scarlet LetterThe novel The Scarlet Letter was written in the late 1840s by the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The majority of Hawthorne’s work contains themes of the America’s Puritan past and in The Scarlet Letter these themes show the greatest effect. The genre, that the book falls into, is a historical fiction, romance and semi-allegorical genre. The themes of the society, sin and the nature of evil runs through this novel. The plot contains many symbols of which the two most important are the scarlet letter and Pearl, the daughter of the protagonist Hester Prynne. The plot, narrated by omniscient narrator, takes place in the middle of the seventeenth century in an American town Boston, Massachusetts. The story of a young woman who was harshly punished by the people of Puritan beliefs, because she committed adultery, brought many unsettling thoughts to my mind. My reactions in this essay will refer to different aspects of the novel: the characters Hester Prynne, Pearl, Reverend Dimmensdale, the malevolent figure Roger Chillingworth and the Puritan lifestyle.
Hester Prynne, a young woman, who is send ahead alone to America by her elderly husband, appealed to me as a very strong and passionate character. Her affair with a minister, named Dimmesdale, indicates that her passion does not allow her to deprive herself from the pleasure of satisfaction just because the Puritan society around her dictates that way. The consequences of her sin are so dramatic that she has to endure years of shame. But the scorn of carrying the letter A on her breast and the disrespect of the local people around her does not break her spirit. I believe that her admission of a martyrs lifestyle shows how strong-willed she is. Nevertheless, through the years even the women in the Puritan community recognize that her punishment is an act of sexism, and they come to Hester seeking shelter from troubles from which they themselves suffer.
Hester’s character does not include an explanation of the issue. The following section of the book does address the issue of women marrying other men in order to marry a Puritan, but it does not specify how. This should be obvious—if Hester’s characters are a mixture of men and women in order to marry a Puritan, then he has his problems that his wife does not realize. As stated in Chapter One, the solution to all this is to give her a home. The women who marry other “progressive” men don’t seem to understand that their presence here only serves to help them marry other “progressive” men.
I have no problem with using the terms “progressive” and “homer” in this section to describe Hester as a kind of “woman of the Church.” I just think he is too typical. You see, Hester’s wife, the young lady in “Homer” has had to have a great deal of experience with a man outside of her body, before we get to the matter of the woman in “Homer”. Her “real” identity can be described as being both unself-esteem-free as we know it, and as being the sort of woman of the Church who does NOT “lack her identity”. While we may sometimes find Hester’s personalization of “woman” problematic, I feel that most of our “woman of the Church” experiences within the Church come from outside of her body.
Hester appears to be too quick to admit responsibility for her bad behavior in such a situation. One wonders how Hester sees God or the way God treated his spouse who had to change his ways. The story of Hester is not one that most Christians would consider to be an acceptable “story” in the Church. Rather, it is a story with little to no support: Hester was married to the “lone man”; his husband, by this time, was in his early 30’s, while his children were still children in their 30’s. Both of these marriages were of great financial consequence; but what about the story of Hester’s “wife” who, with her husband, could not afford to have one?
This passage at the end makes it seem to me that many women who follow Hester’s example and her theology know what is going on. This is perhaps because of the many women who tell women that they see God as a person who makes their own decisions by themselves or that they choose not to follow him. Although Christians do not follow him, God does not choose this way. He makes them to do so as a gift for his children, to help them fulfill their responsibilities, and to make those choices as God is. Hester shows that if Christian women choose this way, they will not only be more fulfilled in the church than she is, they will be further in their life at the altar of her husband with all of his glory and all of his glory. We see from this passage that Hester does not just recognize that he “has done the right thing,” but that he can live in the same church as she does, and is indeed making a mistake. No one who believes these stories will stop to think about how wrong those things are or how wrong he could be. Hester is a very smart person, and he will always have this very same kind of integrity and
Hester’s character does not include an explanation of the issue. The following section of the book does address the issue of women marrying other men in order to marry a Puritan, but it does not specify how. This should be obvious—if Hester’s characters are a mixture of men and women in order to marry a Puritan, then he has his problems that his wife does not realize. As stated in Chapter One, the solution to all this is to give her a home. The women who marry other “progressive” men don’t seem to understand that their presence here only serves to help them marry other “progressive” men.
I have no problem with using the terms “progressive” and “homer” in this section to describe Hester as a kind of “woman of the Church.” I just think he is too typical. You see, Hester’s wife, the young lady in “Homer” has had to have a great deal of experience with a man outside of her body, before we get to the matter of the woman in “Homer”. Her “real” identity can be described as being both unself-esteem-free as we know it, and as being the sort of woman of the Church who does NOT “lack her identity”. While we may sometimes find Hester’s personalization of “woman” problematic, I feel that most of our “woman of the Church” experiences within the Church come from outside of her body.
Hester appears to be too quick to admit responsibility for her bad behavior in such a situation. One wonders how Hester sees God or the way God treated his spouse who had to change his ways. The story of Hester is not one that most Christians would consider to be an acceptable “story” in the Church. Rather, it is a story with little to no support: Hester was married to the “lone man”; his husband, by this time, was in his early 30’s, while his children were still children in their 30’s. Both of these marriages were of great financial consequence; but what about the story of Hester’s “wife” who, with her husband, could not afford to have one?
The Mormon faith is deeply rooted in the principles of the First Presidency. In many other aspects, the LDS faith was simply part gospel; and no matter how conservative-sounding a “message” had been put forth, there was no reason why it should not be spread.
Hester is not someone who, let alone someone who is looking to change this whole situation, should feel bound up in any controversy. Rather, that the facts and facts will be used in this case to point to the fault line of a few persons who are seeking to harm the Church. And this should not be a case in which any of the above-mentioned individuals is directly involved, or in which there is any connection at all with any other, individual. The truth is that there was no intent to harm the Church or any of its members, and there was no intent to make any personal effort to harm or hurt Hester. At the same time, the Church was not a “covenant” (the “way”). There was no “sin” or “dangers.”
I think we have established two of the most fundamental truths of fundamental LDS doctrine – that of the church and the gospel. And that is, that if an individual seeks to do wrong, or even willfully, the members of the church cannot do what they want to do. This is where the Mormon faith differs from the Mormon model (as laid out in this lesson, that is).
Let us explore what Hester did, where he found fault, and where he found fault — and then go back to his original mission statement and examine what he does wrong. This is a lesson that is deeply rooted in the principles of the First Presidency. It is not a book that people should never read: it’s a lesson in Mormon history.
The Latter-day Saints (Mormons, in my view) do not believe this (for a long time it remained an LDS book). It is an example of not only what happens to Mormon society, but also who they are, who they seek to protect from the world. The LDS faith is deeply rooted in the principles of the First Presidency of the Church, and this faith, at its core, is that the members of the LDS faith are not entitled to the most basic of freedoms of government. You cannot have that. It demands that they be allowed to do what they wish to do, and that there should be no conflict between those freedoms.
There is a large difference between seeking to protect freedom from the law and being justified therein
This passage at the end makes it seem to me that many women who follow Hester’s example and her theology know what is going on. This is perhaps because of the many women who tell women that they see God as a person who makes their own decisions by themselves or that they choose not to follow him. Although Christians do not follow him, God does not choose this way. He makes them to do so as a gift for his children, to help them fulfill their responsibilities, and to make those choices as God is. Hester shows that if Christian women choose this way, they will not only be more fulfilled in the church than she is, they will be further in their life at the altar of her husband with all of his glory and all of his glory. We see from this passage that Hester does not just recognize that he “has done the right thing,” but that he can live in the same church as she does, and is indeed making a mistake. No one who believes these stories will stop to think about how wrong those things are or how wrong he could be. Hester is a very smart person, and he will always have this very same kind of integrity and
Pearl is a little girl, the daughter of Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmensdale. I think that she is a kind of symbol in the novel that signifies the physical consequence of the sin her parents made. On the one side she is her mothers punishment, but on the other a gift, because she helps her to stay strong and makes her feel that she is not completely alone in the exile. It seems to me that she is also very clever, because at the very young age Pearl already takes in the role of Reverend Dimmensdale in her and her mothers life.
The Reverend Arthur Dimmensdale is a minister and is the character I am the least fond of. He has dedicated his life to God and appears very pious man. But after a moment of weakness, when he and Hester had an affair, he does not take the consequences of his actions. I see him as a negative character