For this post, I'd like you to select a passage from chapters 1-8 that you find particularly interesting and/or important. Think especially about passages that connect with character development.
Begin the post with the passage and citation
Then analyze the heck out of it!
Things to consider (you don't need to answer all of these questions...just stuff to get you thinking):
What is its overall meaning? What's the significance of some of the words/phrases within the passage? Is there anything symbolic? Anything stylistically interesting? What does it reveal about plot, conflict, characters? Is there any possible symbolism? Any connections with things that have already happened?
Do NOT analyze a passage that has already been done! Feel free, though, to respond to any of your peers' ideas.
Remember to sign your name.
“She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquainted only with the gray twilight of a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison” (36).
ReplyDelete“There he stood (John Wilson), with a border of grizzled locks beneath his skull cap; while his gray eyes, accustomed to the shaded light of his study, were winking, like those of Hester’s infant, in the unadulterated sunshine” (45).
John Wilson is first introduced as the eldest clergyman of Boston, a great scholar, and as having a kind and genial spirit. Similarly, the infant is a symbol of purity in the beginning of the novel. These characters both are portrayed as positive and innocent people, until it is revealed that they are somewhat closely related to the imprisoned and sinful, Hester Prynne. They are both described as having eyes that react negatively to sunshine and brightness when they wink uncomfortably. Perhaps they both wink to block a connection with the present world around them, because they have shame in their close relations with the prisoner.
Wilson also lives in a gray, dark study. The infant has only been exposed to the similar, dark, gray light of wherever Prynne has been held captive, for its whole life. The dark study, in which Wilson spends his days in, might be symbolic of a “dungeon”, or unhappy place, in which both characters are accustomed to spending all of their existence in because of their connections to Hester Prynne.
-Rachel White (1)
Really interesting connections between the two characters! Sunlight is a pervasive symbolic element throughout the novel.
Delete"When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips." Chapter 3, pg. 57.
ReplyDeleteStill on display in the Town Square, Hester notices, at the edge of the crowd, a man with one shoulder higher than the other standing with a Native-American. The man, who later identifies himself as Roger Chillingworth, then approaches a townsman to ask what crime Hester has committed. The man explains to Chillingworth that Hester is guilty of Adultery, but, although the sentence for such a crime is death, she has not been condemned to such a harsh sentence.
There are two main reasons for this. First of all, she refuses to identify the man with whom she committed this crime. Secondly, she came to this country alone, leaving her much-respected husband to study in Amsterdam, and nothing has been heard of him since. Many assume that he drowned on his voyage across the Atlantic. This assumption, along with the knowledge that she is good-looking, and was therefore more susceptible to this type of sin, caused the magistrates to give her a light sentence. Chillingworth, without revealing his identity in any way, comments that the decision not to kill Hester was a wise one. He also repeats, three times, "he will be known." Chapter 3, pg. 59, indicating that he intends to uncover the secret of the man who committed this crime with Hester. Meanwhile, Hester does not take her eyes from Chillingworth, whom she is glad she first encounters among a crowd. She thinks to herself that she would be afraid to meet him alone. We later learn Chillingworth is Hester’s first husband whom she cheated on and she would be scared to meet him alone because she assumes he might become violent and abusive over what he recently learned.
-Ian Kosovsky (1)
Good choice of passage and thorough discussion of the context / situation. What do you make of the gesture he made with it in the air? I've always been curious about what, exactly, he does with that finger in the air. It's clear the following motion to his lips is one to communicate silence / secrecy, but the one in the air is vague and open for interpretation.
DeleteNice Job Ian, I find it interesting that she would rather see Roger in front of a crowd rather than alone. This could signify that he treats her poorly when they are alone and this could be why she committed adultery! - Evan Nelson
Delete“...no more smile with the household joy, nor mourn with the kindred sorrow; or, should it succeed in manifesting its forbidden sympathy, awakening only terror and horrible repugnance. These emotions, in fact, and its bitterest scorn besides, seemed to be the sole portion that she retained in the universal heart… Dames of elevated rank…were accustomed to distil drops of bitterness into her heart…that fell upon the sufferer’s defenceless breast like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound… she forbore to pray for her enemies; lest, in spite of her forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing should stubbornly twist themselves into a curse” (58) .
ReplyDeleteThis passage reveals that Hester is traumatized by her rejection from society. In a most unhealthy manner, she suppresses her depressed emotions within herself. This is poignantly indicated because these feelings are inside her “universal heart”, which is an especially remote place inside people where true reality exists. Clearly, if Hester feels shame in such an intimate place in her conscience, she realizes that she has defied God in a serious way. As a result, the reader knows that she is a genuine and God-fearing person who deserves to be forgiven. There is a discrepancy, however, between the ways that the reader and Puritan society judge Hester.
The end of the passage also indicates Hester’s purity, as she tries to pray for those who disparage her. Despite her good intentions, her anger at those who scorn her is driving her away from religion. So, it can be concluded that the strict ways of the Puritan society actually build unholy ideas in the minds of its people. The passage personifies the “words of the blessing” to make it seem as though they transform themselves into curses without Hester’s control. Hester has been so affected by her isolation that she cannot help but curse her enemies, leaving her irresponsible for these sins. Overall, Hawthorne sends the message that human beings need to be forgiven for their sins; otherwise, they would lambast themselves for not being perfect and become emotionally instable like Hester.
The symbol of a wound is used to stand for Hester’s scarlet letter. This symbolism is ideal because the letter is red, the color of blood. Also, it explains how regular harassment related to her crime is like irritating a wound, as the pain is fresh for her every time she is reminded of what she did. The imagery of the dame as a doctor “distilling drops” painted an evil picture of rich dames, because they are not doctors who are trying to cure their patients. This imagery was ironic because Hester had already been in contact with a physician- her husband. Perhaps this foreshadows that the promises they made to each other will end up hurting Hester.
Rachel’s connection between Wilson and Pearl was interesting. They are both at the extremities of life- Pearl is a newborn and Wilson is the eldest clergyman- yet they have a similar way of life. The sinful image of Hester that Rachel proposed contradicts my passage, which shows how Hester can be judged differently from different perspectives.
-Victoria Lagasse (Period 1)
Exceptional analysis and insights! I especially enjoyed your analysis of the symbolic wound, the twisted irony (and implied hypocrisy) of Puritan society and its impact, and Hester's characterization through her shame.
Delete"Speak, woman!" said another voice, coldly and sternly, proceeding from the crowd about the scaffold. "Speak; and give your child a father!"
ReplyDelete"I will not speak!" answered Hester, turning pale as death, but responding to this voice, which she too surely recognized. "And my child must seek a heavenly father; she shall never know and earthly one!" (47).
This passage occurs when Hester Prynne is on the scaffold and she is ordered by a member of the audience to state the name of the person she had an affair with. She responds to the demand by stating that she will never tell the name of the man. This could possibly symbolize that she wants to protect this person because this man she had the affair with could be her true love. Or, this could symbolize that she doesn't want to give information to her husband because she is angry with him and she wants him to feel jealous and angry. This passage portrays the rebellious and proud side of Hester despite her being in an embarrassing and pitiful position. After standing for a while in front of the entire town, a group of people she knows that all look at her with contempt and disdain, she speaks out and dismisses one of the requests from the crowd. It was especially brave to speak out like this during this time period being a woman and also being accused of a crime that is often punishable by death. The reader has reason to believe that the person she is speaking out against is Roger Chillingworth because the passage mentions that the voice is one "which she too surely recognized". He would ask this question because it would be natural for a man to wonder who the other man is that his wife cheated on him with. She responds to the coldness and sternness of Chillingworth with her own anger by saying that her daughter "shall never know an earthly one" referring to a father. This shows her inner anger toward her husband because she is practically stating that he will never be good enough to father her child and that they will never be reunited. However, this could also show that she loves the man she had an affair with and doesn't want him to fall to the same punishment she is facing or she doesn't want him to be harmed by Chillingworth. The fact that Hester turns "pale as death" when responding to the demand shows that she is nervous and uncomfortable responding to this person despite being rebellious and brave in her response. This leads me to believe that the person in the crowd is her ex husband. This shows the beginning of a conflict between Hester and her ex husband which we later see when he visits her in the prison. Also, I found it interesting how Hester mentions that her daughter must find a heavenly father because this symbolizes that Hester believes in heaven herself despite supposedly committing this sin of adultery.
-Evan Nelson (1)
Great insights into both Hester & Chillingworth.
Delete”God gave me the child! cried she. He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! –she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (Hawthorne, 77)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage it becomes clear that Pearl symbolizes two things. The first being Hester’s sin of being promiscuous and sleeping with another man despite the fact that she is a married woman. Pearl is a reminder to Hester that she has sinned because Pearl came from her and the man she slept with, and therefore seems like a product of sin to Hester. In a way, Pearl is like the living version of the scarlet letter because she is always there to remind Hester of her sins and why she is being shunned by everyone in the town. Hester refers to Pearl as her torture because her own daughter is a constant remembrance of the terrible things Hester has done. On the other hand, Pearl can also be seen as a symbol of happiness for Hester. Hester says herself that God gave her Pearl to compensate everything that has been taken away from her. Hester has been robbed of friends and companionship just because she made the mistake of sleeping with another man. Pearl is the only person that Hester has as a friend to laugh with or to help her through life’s struggles. This is perhaps why Hester fights so hard to keep custody of Pearl despite the fact that she reminds Hester of her unforgivable sin.
-Shelby Leland
Great choice of passage & look at the dual nature of Pearl.
Delete“But there is fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has to be the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghost-like, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibility, the darker the tinge that saddens it. Her sin, her ignominy, were the roots which she had struck into the soil...The chain that bound her here was of iron links, and galling to her inmost soul, but never could be broken” (54-55).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage Hawthorne writes about Hester choosing to stay in Boston after she is released from jail and told she doesn’t have to stay. I found it interesting that Hester chooses to stay, why would she want to? What made her stay? Did she think her daughter, Pearl, wouldn’t suffer from her actions? Hawthorne writes about this feeling that overcomes Hester, forcing her to stay in Boston: doom. He suggests that Hester believes that because of her sin she is bound to live in misery. Hawthorne says that because she has sinned so greatly, the effects of it will stay with her wherever she goes, ‘her sin...were the roots which she had struck into the soil.’ Hester dwells in her sin and by staying in Boston it seems like she is living in the past and struggles to move forward. She could have moved to a different state and started over with Pearl, leaving her sin and ‘doomed fate’ behind her. Instead, she chooses to stay and in doing so everyday she is constantly reminded of her sins by the letter and where she chooses to reside. Because Hester chooses this lifestyle, it seems like it is a self-serving punishment. Perhaps she feels that the bearing of the scarlet letter is not enough and that having to live in the same area where she committed her crime, is a more appropriate punishment. She is alienated by everyone and elected this lifestyle for her and her daughter. The fact that Hester chooses to punish herself in this way rather than choosing to raise her daughter in a healthier and more stable environment, shows the importance of this self-inflicted suffering.
-Shannon Furgal
I love this passage, and you're right--Hester punishes herself as much as others do. I especially like the references to roots and chains. There's lots of vegetation symbolism in this book.
Delete“Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him,” (33-34).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is referring to the beautiful and unique rose bush which lays in front of the gloomy, dark, and cold prison. It is peculiar that Hawthorne would include this rose bush in such a ugly and unwelcoming environment where a prison is located. The rose bush clearly has symbolic motive behind it, and although Hawthorne is never straightforward about his exact purpose for the rose bush, it can be inferred that it represents characters and their attitudes during the story and the time period.
One possible interpretation of the rose bush is it representing Hester and her character. After being punished with the scarlet letter she is a complete outsider who does not fit in with the rest of the Puritan Society. The cold and unwelcoming prison could represent the rest of the Puritans due to its connection with their strict and harsh orthodox religion. The rose bush is what stands out and does not fit in with the gloomy environment of the surrounding prison. Likewise, after Hester is granted her punishment with the scarlet letter, she no longer fits in with her surrounding society. Although at this point in the story she is completely shunned by the rest of her town, as the book progresses they will likely begin to forgive her for her one mistake. She would finally be recognized her for her true unique beauty and differences, much like the rose bush is viewed for its unique beauty in contrast to the prison.
Another possible meaning behind the rose bush is the concept of forgiveness, while the prison represents punishment for those who commit sins. The Puritan religion has very strict beliefs which call for punishing anyone who disobeys the rules. At this point everyone in town believes Hester must pay and be punished for her sins. Although committing adultery is highly condemned by these Puritans and there religion calls for punishment, Christians are also strong believers in forgiveness for people’s wrongdoings. Once they see that Hester truly has suffered the consequences and learned from her mistakes, they might finally decide to forgive her. This forgiveness could be represented by the rose bush. Although she will always be defined by her sin, she may no longer be viewed in such a disdainful manner, and her inner beauty along with her ability to learn from her mistakes may overcome her reputation as a cheater.
In the first page of the book, Hawthorne immediately introduces this vivid and prominent rose bush in contrast with the gloomy and unwelcoming prison. I found it interesting how from the start he leaves it open for the reader to decide what they believe this rose bush represents and how it connects with the characters, the religion during the time period, and people’s attitudes towards one another.
Dana Lidsky (1)
Excellent indepth analysis of the possible layers of symbolism in the rose bush. It's interesting, too, how roses re-appear in chapters 7 & 8 of the novel.
Delete"But sometimes, once in many days, or perchance in many months, she felt an eye --- a human eye --- upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half of her agony were shared. The next instant, back it all rushed again, with still a deeper throb of pain; for, in that brief interval, she had sinned anew. Had Hester sinned alone?" (p. 59)
ReplyDeleteIn this except Hester is being judged by the public for her one sin. They are all looking upon her with their ‘eye’ and she is being shunned. She herself is thinking why, why is she the only one who is being shamed when everyone sins.
Gabby Adams (1)
Gabby, you should consider going back and adding more depth to your analysis. You chose a fine passage, but you should have more to say. Who, perhaps, does that eye belong to? Why would it bring relief? How could that instant be sinning anew? What about the final question?
Delete"Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom"(Hawthorne 55).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is mainly referring to Hester Prynne's future guilt that will always haunt her for the sin that she had done. Hester chooses to stay in the same community that she had committed adultery which means that the people will always judge her and know what she had done. Because of this judgment towards her and how they shun her, she will always feel guilty for what she had done. Another way she may feel even more guilty for staying in the same town, is that the people will use her as an example to others of what not to do. At the end of the quote it talks about how she will become more pure in some other way to make up for her ungodly behavior. Although she may become more pure in another some different category, the act that she has already committed will never completely vanish since she will always will wear the letter A and have Pearl around to remind her, and others of her crime.
-Tim Lellman
Good choice and discussion of what the quote addresses. What do you think the implications are?
Delete“ Hester repelled the offered medicine, at the same time gazing with strongly marker apprehension into his face.
ReplyDelete‘Wouldst thou avenge thyself on the innocent babe?’ whispered she.
‘Foolish woman!’ responded the physician, half coldly, half soothingly. ‘What should ail me to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe? The medicine is potent for good; and were it my child, — yea, mine own, as well as thine!—I could do no better for it.’”
This passage is very important because it shows just how severely the Puritan community of Boston deplored sinners. This can be concluded because Hester was seriously considering the possibility that Roger Chillingsworth, her husband, was giving her child medicine with malicious intent. Even though death, as mentioned previously in the book, was the common punishment for adulterers, an attempted poisoning, especially that of a child, is still an extremely radical response. The fact that Hester suspected this shows that she had very little trust in the community and also suggests that Puritans were indeed very harsh towards sinners.
This interaction also shows that Hester is a very strong woman. She does not back down from a potential danger. Instead, she looks straight at Roger’s face and demands to know his motives. It must also be taken into account that she is also a woman and Roger is a man, for Puritan society endorsed the inferiority of women compared to men, and thus her actions prove that she has an unyielding spirit. At the same time, Puritan women were supposed to practice a dedicated motherhood and her protectiveness of her child shows that she does embody Puritan beliefs.
Roger’s response establishes him as a kindhearted person who also has an exceptional ideology because he helps both Hester and her child even though Hester has committed a very grievous sin. This is doubly important because Roger is her husband so he has more reason than most for disliking her. It is also reassuring that Roger was very resolute in his response that he has no intension of harming the child.
-Henry Liu
Perhaps this passage reveals as much (or more) about R.C.'s character than it does about Puritans? Great point about Heater's strength of character.
DeleteUm....I'm concerned...there are 14 missing posts?
ReplyDelete“Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the
ReplyDeletestreet, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed,
apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found
something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black
flower of civilized society, a prison. But, on one side of the portal,
and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in
this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to
offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went
in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in
token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him,”
(33-34).
While Hawthorne never directly states what the rose bush in this quote
symbolizes, it can be inferred that it represents society and the
characters outlook during this time period. By mentioning a rose bush
outside of the “the black flower of civilized society,” prison,
Hawthorne introduces the interpretation that the rose bush symbolizes
Hester Prynne. After committing adultery, Hester is viewed as an
outcast in their Puritan Society. Like the rose bush, Hester is
extremely beautiful; however, she has gone against the norm within
their society and disobeyed the beliefs during this time period. The
Puritans are represented through the unwelcoming prison, for they
instantly shun Hester after she has received her scarlet letter. Like
the rose bush, Hester is an outsider who can no longer find her way in
the society in which she is forced to live. Committing such a crime at
this time was considered punishable by death to some; yet, Hester
stands in the center of town, with her baby in hand, bold and
essentially powerful. Perhaps the rose bush allows for forgiveness.
Being placed outside of a prison, it grants people the right for
reincarnation, allowing them to start over. Considering the prison, in
my mind, represents the Puritans in society, perchance they will
eventually forgive Hester for what she has done. I thoroughly enjoyed
Hawthorne’s decision to introduce the rose bush early on in the story.
It allows for the reader to get a sense of how important symbolism is
in the story, along with allowing them to predict what may occur next.
-Caroline Coghlin
Great idea that the rose bush represents Hester...perhaps Pearl is like one of the roses? The connections & contrasts between nature & society are quite abundant and important in this novel.
Delete"Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion. Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, -at her, the child of honorable parents, -at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, -at her who had once been innocent, -as the figure, the body, the reality of sin. And over her grave, the infamy that she must carry thither would be her only monument" (Hawthorne 54).
ReplyDeleteThis passage is after her confinement is over and she is released from prison. Hester Prynne is thinking about what her life will become after her time on the scaffold and spending time in prison for her crime. She thinks about how each day will be just as worse as the previous, and added years only add to a pile of shame. This specific passage I chose summarizes the way she has come to the realization that innocent children and women will look at her as representing weakness and sin. She is the reality of sin and a woman who gave in to temptations, showing society how not to behave. She compares herself to the innocent; and how she was once like them. She is being very hard on herself in describing all of these new aspects of her life. The only thing anyone would think of her now would be this adultery, among other accomplishments. As she wears the scarlet letter on her chest, her and everyone around her is always reminded of what she did. In this same paragraph, she also refers to the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, which connects to the symbolism in the introduction, the Custom House. The nameless narrator held the red letter A to his chest as it burned him. The “-at her” used in repetition helps to make the passage more dramatic as she compares several things, the child of honorable parents, the mother of a babe that would hereafter be a woman, and at her who had once been innocent. The progression of this repetition ends with her, the reality of sin.
Sophie Parente
Excellent look not only at the content and subject of the passage but also at Hawthorne's meaningful use of repetition!
Delete"When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips” (Hawthorne 42).
ReplyDeleteThis quote makes me wonder who the true identity of the man is, as Hester seems to recognize him in no time at all. The fact, also, that Hawthorne depicts his face to darken “with some powerful emotion” sparks an interest to find out whether or not the mystery figure knows why Hester is being punished. When he calmly raised a finger to his lips, it seems that he knows what Hester has done he does not want Hester to raise attention that the two know each other, but then asks another town member what she has done to draw attention away from him and to make it appear as though he is as oblivious to the scandal as someone from out of town. Another idea that comes to mind is that the man could possibly be the father of Hester’s newborn, since she is not revealing to the town who the man actually is. It seems to be a very realistic possibility to me since she almost immediately recognizes the man, and Hawthorne does not describe that encounter between Hester and any other man, just him. I think that Hawthorne purposely wrote down the encounter to raise suspicion upon who the man is and what his back story it, especially since he showed up when Hester was in the pillory in front of a crowd that is showing no sympathy towards her whatsoever (with the exception of one woman). I believe that this man is the father of Hester’s baby for those reasons.
-Colton King
Good choice of passage and logical thinking about possibilities of the man's identity...but the post should be sone after you're read the required assignment. In the very next chapter it is revealed that this man is Hester's husband. Consider the passage not just in isolation but for how it connects to the entirety of the reading. Also, what do you make of the gesture in the air? I've always wondered about that, and I have my guesses.
Delete"A lane was forthwith opened through the crowd of spectators. Preceded by the beadle, and attended by an irregular procession of stern-browed men and unkindly-visaged women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment. A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys, understanding little of the matter in hand, except that it gave them a half-holiday, ran before her progress, turning their heads continually to stare into her face, and at the winking baby in her arms, and at the ignominious letter on her breast." pg 38
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hester is walking towards the scaffolding where she will stand for three hours as her punishment for the adultery. The entire Purist town comes to see Hester exit the prison with the baby and a scarlet A embroidered on her clothes. This shows the seriousness that the people have about this sin that she has committed. It is not just a defiance of her religion but also an act that the entire community feels threatened by. Many of the spectators had earlier said that they would have rather seen her executed for defying the Scripture. Their comments seem to foreshadow how they will treat Hester and the infant when they are let free as they consider her as picture of sin and the infant as born from sin.
Even the schoolboys come to see the spectacle as Hawthrone shows the event as cataclysmic to the people of the town. Everyone comes to gawk at Hester walking down towards the scaffolding despite all of he people despising her for what she did.
-Trent Jones
Delete“Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped. “ (37)
ReplyDeleteDuring her procession through the town, Hester is aware that everyone is looking at her, disgusted or horrified by her actions. She recognizes her sins and is surrounded by it. However, though this Hester in a way is still shining and is staying true to who she is, not letting this sin weigh her down. The term “halo” is usually used to describe something heavenly or angelic. In this case the halo is representing the consequences of her actions. Also a halo does not touch a person. In this the “halo of misfortune and ignominy” surrounds Hester but does not touch her. The shining of Hester is shown again when she is questioned about Pearl and Pearl’s father. Hester’s strength shines during what is to this point the most challenging event in her life. The passage also talks about how people though that the events would break her, but were shocked to see her still standing. Hester’s strength will appear again throughout the novel in other challenges that she faces.
-Rachel Engish
”God gave me the child! cried she. He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! –she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!”(77)
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hester is fighting to keep custody of her daughter, and Pearl symbolizes two completely opposite things. First, Pearl is a permanent reminder, to Hester as well as everyone else, of the sin that she committed. Pearl can be portrayed as the reason for her mothers all so evident suffering, as she has been exiled from the town and is forced live in the shadows of her sin due to the harsh Puritan beliefs and punishments. Pearl is looked at as a child of a devil, and has had limited relations due to the fact that she is the daughter of a sinner. On a completely opposite end of the spectrum, Pearl symbolizes the good in Hester’s life, and the reason she keeps fighting through the hardship of her sin. Hester’s love for her daughter is extremely evident which shows the reader how much Hester cares for Pearl. When Hester was committed of her sin, she became an outcast to everyone in town, and nobody would associate with her. Hester lost all forms of relationships with everyone, from friendship, to her husband, she know had no one. Hester states that Pearl was brought into her life as what can be thought of as a substitute for all the relationships she lost. If the government were to take away Pearl from Hester, they would be taking away everything else that she had to live for, and the only thing that keeps her head above the water.
Michael Tascione
"But there is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it." (pg. 54)
ReplyDeleteHester Prynne is getting out of the prison and chooses to stay in Boston, willing to suffer the consequences of what she has done and face what she, according the puritans, has become. She knows that wherever she goes, her sin will follow her and she will not be able to let go of the sin she has committed. “…the color to their lifetime” refers to the sin she has committed will stain her and give her the color she does not want for the rest of her life so she will be forever shunned by society because of her wrong doings. Hester feels that the letter she wears on her chest is not enough punishment and that staying in Boston will cause the punishment she deserves because she feels her actions deserve greater retribution. Even though Hester could move somewhere else and start her life fresh, she believes it is her duty to stay so that her punishment can be fulfilled. This brings to the conclusion that Hester wants to be disciplined even more for her actions because she feels her actions were to devastating to have just the scarlet letter as a suffering and believes she deserves more suffering.
-Dakota Picard
Be sure that you don't repeat a passage that a classmate already analyzed.
Delete"By degrees, nor very slowly, her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion. Whether from commiseration for a woman of so miserable a destiny; or from the morbid curiosity that gives a fictitious value even to common or worthless things; or by whatever other intangible circumstances was then, as now, sufficient to bestow, on some persons, what others might seek in vain; or because Hester really filled a gap which must otherwise have remained vacant; it is certain that she had ready and fairly requited employment from as many hours as she saw fit to occupy with her needle. Vanity, it may be, chose to mortify itself, by putting on, for ceremonials of pomp and state, the garments that had been wrought by her sinful hands. Her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby’s little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and moulder away, in the coffins of the dead. But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride. The exception indicated the ever relentless vigor with which society frowned upon her sin.” (pg. 56-57)
ReplyDeleteThis passage describes the popularity of Hester’s needle-work. This passage, in particular, is important because although Hester is essentially shunned from society, she is also a vital part of the society. Not to mention that her needle-work is worn by high officials of the church and law. It is significant that high ranking officials, especially those of the church, wear Hester’s work because they are wearing the “handy work of the devil”. However, her work was never requested for a bride’s veil signifying that some ceremonies are sacred. It is slightly ironic that her work is not requested for brides because it is requested for funerals and babies. So marriage is a sacred ceremony, yet a funeral isn’t? Shouldn’t a funeral be more sacred? Especially when considering the handy work of a sinner. Personally, if I was concerned with getting into heaven I wouldn’t want the needle-work of a sinner to adorn my outfit. The towns cool temperament towards Hester even when she provides beautiful needle-works shows that the town is not likely to warm up to Hester.
- Procrastination is the game. Bits is the name.
“ After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson’s question, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door.” (76)
ReplyDeleteThis passage represents multiple symbols that reoccur throughout the story. First, Pearl is being defiant and not answering the question with what she knows is the answer. She, even as a young child, knows that she and her mother are outcasts. Her isolation has aided the development of her fiery personality. The people of the town believe her to be a child of the Devil and from hell. The fact that she has a strong personality does not help to disprove this idea. But she is also creative in the fact that she decided she was plucked from a rose bush. A rose bush is beautiful, but covered with thorns. Pearl is like a rose in her own sense. She is a beautiful little girl, with a good heart, but because of her origins, the people cannot see her as such. Her thorns are the fact she was the product of adultery. She is blamed for this, even though it was not at all her fault. Much like roses are blamed for the injuries of their thorns, Pearl is blamed for her mother and father’s actions. Also, the fact that she chose the rose bush by the prison door is a symbol. She came from what the Puritans consider sin and illegal: adultery. By saying she came from near the prison is recognition of this fact. Pearl herself may not realize what she is saying, however Hawthorne chose his words wisely. He wants to make sure the reader knows exactly what is going on and what it all means. Additionally, it was though that Anne Hutchinson was the cause of the roses to grow. She was at odds with the Puritans, much like Hester and Pearl are now. This passage is full of both symbolism and parallels that are sure to carry on throughout the rest of the novel
-Gilly Moore (1)
"This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall if the gigantic pines and oaks that overshadowed it,- or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door,- we shall not take it upon ourselves to determine. (34)"
ReplyDeleteAs the author blatantly states later in the paragraph about the nature of the rosebush and how it symbolizes hope in dark places, so it indeed represents. The bright flowers contrast with the gloomy exterior of the prison, and even its origins - whether natural or not so - are as dark as its circumstances. In one version, it grows amidst the undergrowth of the trees which previously stood there, only to be cut down by the settlers, or it grows underneath the steps of the prison itself, though the author gives no clue as to which account is more accurate. All the same, roses, as with people, desire direct sunlight, especially in the mornings and early afternoons, as well as care and nurturing. Rosebushes must be pruned so twisted stems do not sap the energy of the plant, and so the thorns do not grow too large so as to prick the unsuspecting gardener. As with humans, roses grow perilous thorns when not properly taken care of, and Hester is no exception. We have already seen one particularly sharp thorn when it comes to the name of the man she cheated with, and perhaps her child will come to be the sharpest of all, though that remains to be seen. The rosebush not only symbolizes human hope in the most dispair of circumstances, but Hester herself. And as the rosebush grows in the shadows of society, so too does Hester.
~ Lauryn Nosevich (1)