Forgiveness and Freedom
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Forgiveness and Freedom
We always observe in our lives a struggle between society, its norms, strong influences and natural inner peace. It’s worth understanding that our nature should guide our destinies and only after that we will truly understand the word freedom and we will see its power in action. In “The Scarlet Letter” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” we see how authors portray the moments of standing of person as a part of nature but not as a part of society. It gives hope and chance to learn how to forgive you and how to reveal true yourself…
First of all I would like to say that Hawthorne’s aim was to show true freedom of minds and action as he was only comparatively and partially free by himself. He was working in custom house, where highly commercialized society stayed. But his true desire was to be an artist. When he found the package with 6 pieces of paper and letter “A” he wrote the story. This story is about A-as Adultery, but everybody understands that he wanted to describe freedom of choices, how to live and act independently from society’s tight regulations and restrictions. On example of Hester and her adulterous affair author wanted to show her way of realization that she was no more guilty in a front of society. First symbol of forgiveness in the story we can see in the 1st chapter, where people come to look at Hester and to judge her. Nobody noticed the rose bush which symbolizes love and forgiveness for everyone; it was created not for special people but for everyone. It’s an image of morality, but society’s views on morality are often not right. The atmosphere of judgment and unforgivness is everywhere. One woman even says that the guys in prison were too good for Hester and she should die for her sins, but it seems like she condemn her just because she sees her own sins in Hester’s doings. Women were jealous to Hester as she now was free. She was has a nerve to show her love for unknown person. In ch.2 we first see her scarlet letter A she made by her own. There is a mysterious glow, separate zone around her. She looked as lady-like and innocent as virgin Marry with the baby on her hands. She looks more moral than anybody on the market place. Here we see that those people who knew her before were amazed “how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy”. As for me she appears like a hero for everybody. She felt even more power when kept the secret about who the true father was (ch.3). She took all guilt on herself and don’t want to share it with Dimmesdale. Society put scarlet letter “A” on her image forever and “it had an effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with the humanity, end enclosing her in sphere by herself” (ch.2) she could left the country or start new life but she choose to stay in exile, far from the society. She found herself in needlework, “she possessed an art”. It was kind of payment for people to forgive her, but the reason is she didn’t understand that she should forgive herself first and only after everybody would forgive her. I think forest where she was living gave her ability to be free from society and help her to forgive herself. The moment of revelation occurred in ch.13. She is becoming to be a free thinker. She becomes even more feminists and less like a woman. “A scarlet letter has not done its office” means that “A” didn’t put forever guilt on her but gave her a freedom to think outside the box, untraditionally. Now she understands that her only crime was to marry a man with whom she was not in love with (ch.15). We see how happy she is with her Pearl and she seems to forgive herself. I think Pearl as a gift of God helps her to understand that there was no guilt in birth of child conceived in pure love. Arthur’s journey of self-realization was much longer. He denies any thought to forgive himself. He tried to hide a big secret inside but these makes him feel worse and worse. Arthur is getting thinner because of his mental disease (Placebo effect).It is because when you hide some secrets your Ego tells your body to disappear. He beats himself and become a flagellant person. In ch.12 we see him reunited with Hester and Pearl on the platform at night. He went out from the platform and said “It’s done”. He thinks if he confessed publicly on the platform his suffering will over. Hester and Perl make him feel connected with them. When Hester came to him(ch.16) she tells “You wrong yourself in this. Your sin is left behind you.” Forgiveness is ability to see the present moment. She makes him to forgive her after she tells about Chillingworth being her husband. Now she knows how to forgive herself and she teaches Dimmesdale how to forgive himself as well. Now he feels not alone but connected with his real family. They start sharing their love and living in the forest where all experience freedom again. Hester becomes an Angel for him (ch.18). In Ch.20 Arthur starts writing a sermon—he has new way of seeing the world as he sees himself forgiven. Forgiveness gives him wings to do everything he dreamed for years. Arthur should forgive that image he made up in his head about himself. When person is a preacher it doesn’t mean he can’t make mistakes. It was even not a mistake as to be in love with person is not a sin. Chillingworth all the time mirror Arthur’s “black” side of life and Pearl always reminds about “white”. This is some kind of struggle between good and bad inside person. Pearl as a pure child felt some connection with Arthur , she looked at him so softly(ch.8, ch.12). She should be that reason to start living again. But Chilingworth was always pointing out on Arthur’s guilt and doesn’t want to forgive him. Arthur becomes the slave of Roger as he couldn’t forgive himself first. Roger wanted to get inside his heart and destroyed. After Arthur’s try to forgive him, Roger wanted to make him feel the same again. “Hadst thou sought the whole earth over”(ch.23) were the words that made Arthur felt guilty again and she reveals his letter “A” and falls down. This was his real forgiveness of himself and of Chillingworth who has no more emotional weapon for Arthur. At the end we see that to forgive your own mistakes and guilt means to free yourself. Hester represents some kind of new way of living with completely unordinary way of thinking and understanding