...Jennifer Cifuentes Scarlet Letter Essay April 3, 2014 Coach Roberts Chillingworth’s Revenge in The Scarlet Letter Admittedly, some people have a twisted vision of justice and evil. The scarlet letter is a historical fiction romance novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that gives a great example of this. This story takes place in the late 1640s in Boston, Massachusetts. In this particular society of puritans there seems to be no room for error. Hester Prynne is the main character whom commits adultery with the Reverend Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale and is forced to wear a scarlet letter upon her bosom. As a result of this sin, a child was born whom Hester named Pearl. When the rest of the town found out, Hester was forced to stand on the scaffold which was right in the middle of the town. She would stand holding little Pearl as everyone crowed around her to ridicule. That was when Hester’s husband who was missing for two years shows up and sees his wife has been unfaithful. At this point, no one knows who the father of Pearl is and Hester refuses to speak his name. Her husband is filled with hurt and anger that his wife would betray him this way. He then makes the decision to seek justice for himself. He takes on the alias of ‘Roger Chillingworth’ and takes the role as the town’s physician. He starts to torture Hester and Dimmesdale, confusing justice with revenge, and becomes evil. These things can really take a person’s life over. In this novel, Roger Chillingworth starts seeking...
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...John White Mrs. Edgar The Scarlet Letter October 10, 2014 Pearl: A Gift or a Curse? In The Scarlet Letter, our characters are expressed as detailed and as expressive as they should. The children in the book are by far the most expressed and true. Ever since she was born, The Scarlet Letter defines Pearl as the symbol of Hesther’s crime. In other words, Pearl is considered Hester’s curse. She is the one who was blamed for all the trouble that our main characters came across. Readers tend to put down Pearl’s role in the novel. Actually, as contradicting as it may sound, I was one of those readers. However, now I believe that she deserves more credit than she gets. Though her imagination and her determination offer both as a gift and a curse...
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...Dimmesdale vs. John Proctor Heroes are often thought as the superior and perfect people in society. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible illustrates that everyone, including sinners, can be a hero in certain situations. The Scarlet Letter, a book about the consequence and change of identity after committing adultery between the main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, has many similarities with The Crucible, a story about an unfair witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. In the two books, Dimmesdale and John Proctor are depicted as heroes despite their critical flaws in their lives. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller, the authors of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, portray contrasting symbolism such as hypocrisy and justice through similar but different characters: Reverend Dimmesdale and John Proctor. Identified as an adulterer in the story, Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy is clearly shown through the context. The story starts off with the punishment of Hester for her sin, adultery that she had committed with Dimmesdale. As Hester does not blurt the name of the child’s father when questioned about the crime, Dimmesdale as a Reverend, the holy man, speaks up. He states, “though [the man that has sinned] were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart.” (Hawthorne 58). He continues that the “silence” of Hester is just “[adding] hypocrisy to sin.” (Hawthorne 58). Ironically, his statements...
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...one can ponder further whether or not this truly illustrates a poor path. Can straying from the normal trail possibly lead to an even greater destination? The film American Beauty and the novel The Scarlet Letter both use the archetypal hero’s journey and supporting images of power to emphasize that finding individuality can lead to fulfillment and rebirth, desires we all share. As readers venture into any story, they will realize that they will find a journey is being told. In the case of American Beauty and The Scarlet Letter, both narratives share the required journey pattern of departure, fulfillment and return in their quests....
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...Nathanial Hawthorne uses imagery of things such as heat, fire and burning to imitate the Puritan’s beliefs of harsh punishment being used on those who have sinned and done wrong. Throughout the beginning of Nathanial Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” he uses the burning imagery associated with the letter ‘A’ when the narrator of the novel first comes across it. As the narrator holds the letter A to his breast he “experiences sensations... Of burning heat” which perhaps portrays how the letter is used as a form of punishment and which is therefore why one can associate it with heat and fire and burning images. This demonstrates how strong god’s anger was towards Hester Prynne meaning that the letter still burns other people who come across it and pick it up... not just the sinner themself .This can relate to Edward’s Sermon as he says that gods anger “burns like fire” One could read this as a supernatural reading, this letter clearly has an almost magical feel to it in the sense that the effect of it still remains , and will continue too. This is very similar to Rev. Edward’s sermon as he says that god’s wrath “burns like fire” towards you. The women of Salem see Hester’s crime as so awful and terrible that she should have a “brand of a hot iron” on her head. This shows us as the reader that even though Hester is the same gender as them, they have no sympathy or helpful comments to make. It also shows how strong their puritan views and how they felt no commiseration to...
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...The Role of Sin in The Scarlet Letter Sin is something society has had to deal with since mankind has known evil. In most circumstances, the sin only becomes a problem when it is kept within and develops itself into something larger than it was in the first place. Keeping secrets is an impairment to one’s life, which in a larger picture affects a whole society. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “secret sin” is a predominant theme, which in this novel leads to changes in both emotional and physical being. In the early days of the Massachusetts colony, they are neither welcoming nor accepting of sin or different ideas and are suspicious of anything that may topple their perfect settlement. Evil should never be kept secret because it always leaves a deep mark. Hester Prynne hides a substantial amount of sin inside of herself, which only adds to sins that have been made an issue of public interest. Committing adultery is Hester’s sin, and all her secret sins are results of this one. Pearl’s father’s sin, which is closely related to Hester’s sin of adultery, is the reason Pearl is alive. She refuses to tell even under extreme pressure, “I will not speak! And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one.” (Hawthorne 47). We later learn that the father is Arthur Dimmesdale, and this lack of communication cause a barrier between them. Her refusal consequently denies any hope of reconciliation between the two for an extensive period. Hester...
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...The Scarlet Letter: Shining light on personal affliction Introduction Hawthorne’s exploratory view into deeper psychological realms is ever present in his masterpiece “The Scarlet Letter”. In a time period that was unaccustomed to the questioning of religious authority, Hawthorne placed specific unspoken sentiments at the forefront of his novel. Controversial topics such as punishment versus forgiveness and sin and judgment were broached as a means of conveying the persisting contempt he held towards the Puritan way of life. Moreover, Hawthorne examined more than the overt, obvious effects sin had on an individual; He analyzed its consequences and significances when one attempted to surreptitiously conceal sin. It is the latter which I...
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...Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, readers are introduced to multiple characters in order to fully comprehend Hester Prynne’s peculiar situation. As Hester stands on the scaffold with her daughter in her arms, the public stares and judges her actions, considering her a sinner and transgressor. Through the use of rhetorical devices, readers are able to determine Hawthorne’s differing attitude towards each character and view Hester and Roger Chillingworth in a different light. Hester Prynne, a woman being punished for her adultery- a betrayal of the ten commandments- is forced to stand on a scaffold for three hours while the public stares. Bystanders comment as to whether the extent of Hester’s punishment is not harsh enough....
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...raised only knowing evil. Most of them became evil because of some event in their life. For most, that event is revenge. Roger Chillingworth from the novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathanial Hawthorn was once a good man. Thanks to revenge, he is known in the book as the Devil’s pawn. Roger is here used as an example to show how a good man can become evil. Roger Chillingworth was once known as a completely different person then the healer he was known as in the town. He was described in chapter 14 as "a man thoughtful for others, craving little for himself—kind, true, just and of constant, if not warm affections". So he was a kind man. He may...
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...“ Fear the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” - George Lucas. Hester’s sin of adultery destroyed both men- Dimmesdale by guilt and Chillingworth by revenge. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Chillingworth's vengeance was the cause of Dimmesdale's death. Chillingworth hated Dimmesdale because he took Hester from him and left her to deal with the consequences of their sin alone. What should have been a warm and loving homecoming after being apart from his wife was terrible. He was left confused and alone. "A man, elderly, travel-worn, who, just emerging from the perilous wilderness, beheld the woman, in whom he hoped to find embodied the warmth and cheerfulness of home, set up as a type of sin before the people." (Hawthorne 9). When Chillingworth arrives in the colony and learns of Hester's situation, he leaves her alone as he single-mindedly pursues Dimmesdale by intriguing him in education. Educated men were...
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...Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter during the 1800s in Boston, Massachusetts when men were the dominant gender in society. The whole book is based on how Puritan society always chose men over women. They would punish women constantly and without any hesitation. In this book, Hawthorne writes about Hester who had an affair but had also recently gave birth to a child. Throughout the book we tend to see how there were many punishments towards women. Hawthorne lets us know that he is not on the same side as all of these Puritans because he thinks that women do need to have rights and should be able to be independent. While Puritans wanted women to be pure and always be in the house hold, in this book we realize that if you made a...
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...century reformers in England desired an austere religion. Those reformers began the cultivation of the puritan religion from the Church of England. Shortly, the church deemed them as anarchists and found killing puritans as the solution. Puritans then fled to North America and began to build extravagant cities, like the city on the hill. The puritan cities set strict rules which mirrored the puritan belief; and enforced the law with an ironclad. This is visible in Nathaniel Hawthorns historical novel, the Scarlet Letter. Despite the convection of account of adultery, parturition of her daughter, Pearl, and isolation from the public, Hester Prynne, the protagonist, was able to atone for her mistake. Whereas the men of her life, Roger her husband, and minister Dimmesdale, her child’s father became distraught by their actions. Minister Dimmesdale begin to grow weak and exhibited abnormal behavior, due to the lies and secrets that reside within him; whereas, Roger Chillingworth anger lead him to aggression and revenge, which cause self-inflected wounds. Minister Dimmesdale, a clergyman of the puritan faith and “[…] fellow sinner and fellow sufferer” whose actions lead to the birth of Pearl (Hawthorne 43). Unlike Hester,...
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...I finished unpacking yesterday so I'm going to school today, why can't I stay home again? "Scarlet! Come down or you'll miss breakfast!" My mum calls from downstairs; I take one more look at my choice of outfit before going to the kitchen and eating my breakfast. "Where's dad?" I look up at my mum to see her over happy face, how can she be so happy about this? "He's gone to work; a different job means a different schedule." I don't question anymore as I finish my food, kiss my mum and little sister and run out the door. I get to school and head to the principal’s office, the woman at the desk lets me in and the principal stares me down. "Welcome Scarlet, here is you new class schedule, I have also assigned a buddy to help you get around the school." Before I know what's happening I'm out the office and facing a boy a little taller than me. "Hey." Man I'm awkward around new people, he doesn't look up as he whispers a small hello and walks off. I run after him and silently follow into a class room, he sits down and I get the feeling he doesn't like me. Too bad, the only open seat is next to him, I walk over and the teacher starts talking about random stuff. As the teachers going on and on I decide its best to at least have my 'buddy' half like me, so I write a note and slide it over to him, luckily he has a look and writes back. Me: what's your name? Him: Ben, yours? Me: Scarlet. Him: like red. Me: yeah, call me red if you want. Him: really? Cool, hey red. Me: hey...
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...Sentencing and Punishment Paper Karen Peters CJS/200 03-31-2013 Brenda Barney Sentencing and Punishment Paper There are several philosophies used in the court systems that are used in determining what the punishment will be for criminals that are found guilty for the crimes they have committed. The four philosophical, reasons are used in juvenile and adult courts; they are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Juvenile courts are similar to how that adult court systems, but there are several differences of the two. Both systems work at trying to keep crime from occurring, and they both us some sort of sentencing and punishment for the criminals that are found guilty, they use the punishment philosophy that courts use to determine a punishment suitable for the crime and that will help with future prevention of crimes happening from the same offenders. Six forms of punishments go along with the four philosophical forms. The first philosophical reason is retribution; this is the earliest form that is known as a rationale punishment, it followed the Old Testament of and Schmalleger (2011) “eye for and eye” and a “tooth for a tooth” (p. 373). In the case of minor crimes, it was supposed to lower the severity of punishments. In today’s world it corresponds to what is called just deserts a form of sentencing holding criminals responsible for the crimes that they commit. Once they are convicted they are known to have gotten their “just deserts”...
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...University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2010 Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context Leah Rang University of Tennessee - Knoxville, lrang@utk.edu Recommended Citation Rang, Leah, "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2010. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/655 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact trace@utk.edu. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in English. Urmila Seshagiri, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lisi Schoenbach, Bill Hardwig Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council:...
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