A Nun’s Gem

Charles Baker

charlesbbaker

The Scarlet Reader

This post focuses on Hester and Pearl’s relationship in chapters 17-20, and attempts to relate it to DID

A Nun’s Gem

In chapters 13 – 16 I explored the idea that Pearl was a representation of Hester’s inability to move on. This idea has continued into chapter 19, where I noticed a very interesting idea emerge in my head. The way that Pearl and Hester interact seems very similar to Dissociative Identity Disorder(DID). DID is the current term used for multiple personality disorder. It is characterized by  a person having a split where they perceive themselves separate from themselves. This doesn’t always mean a separate person, as I am suggesting, but can be as slight as feeling that  one is not themselves. As the understanding of such illnesses was not present at the time Hawthorn wrote this story, I don’t believe that this interpretation was in any way intended, but I do think it is very interesting. (I know that suggesting Pearl is a figment of Hester’s imagination is asinine, but I think it is a cool way to look at it in these Isolated events).

Before Hester stood in front of the town on the stocks, she was considered a beautiful, independent, and proud woman, who was very in touch with her femininity. As Pearl has grown, Hester has mellowed down a significant amount and become almost tame. She no longer carries the same feminine flare that she once did, now seen as a nun like figure. After the incident, it is very noticeable that Hester has become reserved.

Pearl on the other hand is constantly compared to being eccentric and in touch with nature. She is constantly involved in scenes in the forest and alluded to as part of the natural world. Her name is also that of a Gemstone found in the shell of an Oyster. This makes Pearl seem like a character who is just now understanding the world, she is now trying to express the inner beauty that Hester has lost.

If I were to continue this analogy to DID, I would likely say the split occurred in the prison. As to deal with the traumatic events of what she has done with Dimmesdale, she pushed her innocence and freedom into the identity of Pearl. This would explain why Pearl would have no knowledge of why Dimmesdale clutches his chest, because that is the reason Hester split form Pearl, as Pearl is the untampered sole Hester has separated from herself.

This would also explain why Hester seems unable to let go of what she has done. If Hester could move on this would destroy Pearl, as it would undermine her creation. This would explain Pearls convulsions as Hester took off the “A.” Without the “A” Pearl would have no meaning and become pointless and may dissipate from Hester entirely.

I just want to reiterate that I don’t think this is what’s happening, and I know there are a lot of holes in the idea, but I just think this is a cool way to look at it.

Dimmesdale, Reinvigorated

In my previous post, I discussed the thoroughly exhausted Dimmesdale on his walk through the forest. He was tired of the world and utterly lacking of any sort of drive. I want to compare this image we get of our “hero” in contrast to how we find Dimmesdale at the beginning of chapter 18.

On the bottom of page 179, Hawthorne says that Arthur looked at Hester with an expression of joy and hope, mixed with “horror” at her boldness. In the course of one conversation, Arthur goes from lost to found. When he and Hester decide to “run away,” it gives him a purpose. Suddenly the man who, until a few minutes ago, was sauntering on down the forest footpath, has been brought back from the land of the weary. His posture becomes better and a slight shadow of hope begins to spread itself in his brain. The shadow spreads until on page 182 he says, “Do I feel joy again? Methought the germ of it was dead in me! O Hester, thou art my better angel!” Dimmesdale, after 7+ years, can feel joy again! All it took was the reunification of the duo and the hope of a goal. The minister then wonders why they hadn’t come back together earlier by saying, “This is already the better life! Why did we not find it sooner?”(182)

For a moment, Arthur’s life force has returned. For a moment, he throws off the guilt that the weight of his vocation has placed upon him. And in the metaphorical throwing off of his burden, Hester removes the scarlet letter that has adorned her chest during the last few years. Together they remove their social stigmas, self imposed or otherwise, and for a moment they are happy.

Of course this seeming fairy tale ending is dashed against the rocks of plot development,  but for a few minutes they duo was able to be happy and maybe that is all Dimmesdale needed to be fully reinvigorated; to lift him up from the forest floor with its decomposing leaves and footpaths. In two chapters Dimmesdale metamorphosed from a broken, shame-filled minister to a joyful, love-filled man of God. And maybe that’s what this chapter is trying to say, we all need a lil’ love.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 1986. Print. Reissue 2003.

Wait… You Have a Husband?

Hello again! I know this is another blog in the same week, but unfortunately my teacher has unloaded a lot of work on the class, due to the fact that we are falling behind. It is Honors English, so it’s no surprise that the work load is at times over-bearing, but that is beside the point. Today I would like to look at the encounter with Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale. Hester finally reveals to Dimmesdale that the man who has been nursing him back to health is her former husband. If you were in Dimmesdale’s position, would you have reacted the same way? Well, let’s see.

At the beginning of these chapters, Hester and Dimmesdale meet up to talk about some things. Hester then proceeds to drop some big news by saying that Chillingworth is her former husband. At first, Dimmesdale appears to be furious at this, but he soon sinks down onto the ground and begins to contemplate. If I was in his position I would never forgive her, and at first he says that he will never forgive or forget what she had said. But in Hester’s mind, she has waited seven years to have him say the words “I forgive you,” but since she did not hear them she pleas for him to, which he finally does. But this brings up a very serious question that many of you may have passed over. Why after all of these years of self-torture and abuse, would someone forgive the person that could have saved you from the very beginning?

Dimmesdale has lived the past seven years of his life without the opportunity to raise the daughter that he bore with Hester, without being able to enjoy anything in life because of the torture that he has been put through and not being able to feel free and move on like Hester has so successfully done. At the same time, though, if Dimmesdale would have confessed earlier to his sin, he would have had not only the same opportunity that Hester had which was being able to start a new life, but also a chance at redemption. Dimmesdale still believes that this possibility still exists, but the amount of shame and guilt that he feels, now denies him that option. We see that Dimmesdale has, after some persuasion, forgiven Hester for the fact that she has committed a horrible act by not telling him originally that Chillingworth was her husband, but we also start to sense that Dimmesdale takes responsibility for all of this as well. If Dimmesdale would have taken ownership and confessed his sin, he would not have been the victim of such evil which is manifested in Chillingworth’s actions.

So to me it seems as though Dimmesdale is in a very unsure situation when Hester gives him the news that Chillingworth all along was her husband and that Chillingworth wanted revenge on Dimmesdale the whole time. We all come across scenarios just like this in our own lives, where have to choose either to forgive or to not forgive. My brother did not mention that he was having a friend over even though he said he wanted to spend time with me. I had the choice either to forgive him and move on, or not forgive him and go through the rest of the night unhappy because my plans got screwed up. Just like Dimmesdale, we can all learn to forgive the people who have hurt us the most in life. We can all move on from situations that may have hurt us at the time, nut looking back, there was no reason to have felt hurt at all. So if you are going to take one thing away from this blog today, it is to forgive the people who have hurt you in any way, and release that hatred and pain that that person may have caused, and you will not only live a happier life, but you will also become a better person.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 2003. Print.

A Forest of Secrets

Name: Paulina Smolinski

WordPress user name: paulinasmolinski

Blog Title: Scarlet Reader

This post focuses on Chapters 17-20

One of the main focuses of Transcendentalist writing was to emphasize the power of nature. Hawthorne wrote his novel during this time period fascinated by the powers of nature so it is only fitting that some major scenes of the novel be played out in the secrecy of the forest.

For Transcendentalists, the calm ways of nature in represented the mind of God. Nature was a way in which the soul could connect with God. They found nature to be inspiring, powerful, and filled with some elements of almost a “dangerous beauty” (Moore). Both Transcendentalist writers Emerson and Thoreau believed that emotional and spiritual rebirth was an important tool of Nature that allowed one to enter a cleaner and more pure state due to the tranquil atmosphere (Moore).

All the major revelations and secrets that Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth hold within themselves are exposed in the raw atmosphere of the forest. The masquerade that they participate in when stuck in civilization is no longer necessary as each individual can go back to the basic elements of what they know is true. Hester can address Chillingworth about the torture he is causing Dimmesdale. In addition, Dimmesdale can find out the truth about the man who he saw as his friend; and Hester can get the truth as well as scarlet letter off her chest. Hawthorne even addresses how difficult it is for both Hester and Dimmesdale to see “how dreary looked the forest track that lead back to the settlement, where Hester Prynne must once again take up the burden of her ignominy and the minister the hollow mockery of his good name” (Hawthorne 177). This return back to truth is fittingly fulfilled in the location where all is retrogressed to a natural state. The transcendental idea that nature allows for peace is used in these chapters by allowing for the characters to find peace as well as answers within the forest.

In addition, the description of the forest shows the striking difference between the wildness of nature and the rigidity of society. In the forest, emotions can run free, and dreams can be expressed, such as when Hester comes up with the plan to escape to Europe. Even Dimmesdale releases what was bottled up inside as he cries into the scarlet letter. On the other hand, the world of the Puritan town lives under constant law and order. The town’s judgments and criticism follow a black and white code of ethics. The forest seems to offer the gray area as the reader is lead to sympathize with the “criminals” who broke the town’s law. The author points out that Hester has been living in a figurative forest of morals as “she had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest” (Hawthorne 182).

Thinking back to the musical Into the Woods, which occurred last year at our school, there are elements in the way that the woods is presented similar that of The Scarlet Letter. For instance,  in the musical there is a certain aura that surrounds the wood as “anything can happen in the woods.” All the characters seem to express their wildest dreams in the comfort of the trees. In the same way, Hawthorne uses the woods to allow Hester to express her dreams and truths.

Work Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 1850. Print.

Moore, Ellen. “Ideas–Philosophy of Nature.” Ideas–Philosophy of Nature. N.p., n.d. Web. 06      Apr. 2015.

Sin and The Scarlet Letter

Ian Coyne

Coyneandbill

The Scarlett Reader

This post focuses on sin and its interpretation in The Scarlet Letter

Sin and The Scarlet Letter
Sin, as a concept, is fascinating to read about. While it does have most of its roots in Christianity as well as the other Middle Eastern religions, the idea that certain actions are inherently evil can be seen across a multitude of cultures across the globe. This feeling of wrongness is not mutually exclusive to one group of people, and as such it has adopted different names and interpretations. Within Puritan society, sin is a very important concept that seems to keep the whole religious movement afloat. Puritans live in constant, terrifying fear of sin. This immense fear motivates them to live and act in certain ways that sets them apart from other sects of Christianity. If one were to want to intensely investigate and form their own opinions on sin, the Puritans would prove to be a treasure cove of information on the subject. I believe Nathaniel Hawthorne set out to do just such a thing when he placed the setting of his novel, The Scarlet Letter, in a typical New England Puritan colony. Let’s take a closer look on just how Hawthorne reveals his own interpretation of sin in the last few chapters of The Scarlet Letter.

The last few chapters have, I would argue, the most focus on sin within The Scarlet Letter thus far. Two major characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, abandon the demeanor they don within the community when they privately meet under the shady New England trees. With the abandonment of their demeanor, all that is left is them and their sin, which both address during their meeting. For Hester, she throws the symbol of her sin, the scarlet letter, and immediately “[h]er sex, her youth, and the richness of her beauty, came back from…the irrevocable past,” (Hawthorne 183.) I believe this feeling of relief originates from Hawthorne’s own interpretation of sin. He believes that some sin, like a woven letter attached to one’s garments, can be easily removed from the sinner’s conscience and fill them with feelings of freedom and carefree joy. However, Hawthorne also expresses that this joy and relief is nothing more than an illusion when Pearl does not recognize her mother without her scarlet letter. Once Hester reattaches the letter, however, Pearl recognizes her but “the richness of her womanhood [ ] departed,” (Hawthorne 190.) I believe Hawthorne is trying to say through this unusual scene that while a sinner may feel they can run from their sin, it ultimately defines who they are and is completely irreversible.

Hawthorne also expresses another one of his interpretations of sin through Dimmesdale in these chapters. Unlike Hester, Dimmesdale’s sin is buried deep in his heart rather than displayed upon his chest. One can assume this hidden sin causes great pain to him since hiding it has degraded his health and the fact that he often clutches at his heart, especially when he sees Pearl or anything to remind him of his adultery. I think that through Dimmesdale’s dealing with his sin, Hawthorne is saying that all sin is a heavy burden on the sinner, and the only way one can relieve themselves of that burden is to admit what they have done wrong rather than burying it in denial.

These last few chapters have been very interesting to me, although some people talked about how slow and boring they were. Hawthorne’s style and antique language definitely makes The Scarlet Letter a hard read at times, but digging through the text to discover new themes and subjects is always a rewarding experience.

SOURCES

Hawthorne, Nathaniel.  “A Flood of Sunshine.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 183. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Child at the Brook-Side.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 190. Print.