... The author could use a bright and sunny day to create the mood, in this case, peaceful, loving and happy. In contrast to this, the author could also use a gloomy and dark setting to make the mood scary and evil. Darkness is used to portray hatred and punishment, or in the puritan society sin ... . The novel The Scarlet Letter is mainly a gloomy, dark story because it is centered on sin in the puritan society. Through out The Scarlet Letter, light is used to show happiness and goodness. One of the most happy and ... was not punished, he brought himself down with his own guilt, which for h...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... actually a crime (Eldritch Press). Living in a Puritan community, Hester is shunned for her actions, and she was forced to be humiliated in front of the town while standing on the scaffold with her daughter, Pearl. Hester, who has grown up in Europe, does not see eye to eye with the Puritans; they are angered by her beauty, and feel that her punishment is not ... sufficient for the nature of the crime. Hester does not see the severity in her sin as strongly as the townspeople do, and in fact feels that it is justified. She believes that the sin has a consecration of its own ... (Hull)....

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... can see examples of shunning are directly expressed through the fact that TMZ released a video on the actions of Ray rice and the fact that people described his punishment as mild. This goes to show that many citizens shun Rice for what he did in society because it is being ... embroided Scarlet letter "A" which stood for "Adultery" at that point in the novel. This was Hester's punishment for committing her "crime." it was described as humiliating to Hester and was considered immorall to the citizens and shunned upon as a "sin". In comparison to Ray rice, a football player who was well li...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , a "with a woman's strength" better able to handle life's painful moments (150). Hester's strength of character in public her way of steeling herself against her inner wounds inflicted by her reputation and plague by the scarlet letter. Her weakness revealed in her private vent of her grief through tears. Her silent suffering eventually wins the sympathy of others but still fails to ... him, the more his guilt grows. The hypocrite retaining his religious image in public and lead a guilt-ridden life of self-punishment in private that ruined his health and causes his physical deterioratio...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... [ ] was a fortress from which he had escaped and was glad to be gone, and yet looked back to as a city fortified and strong in its certainties while [ ] uncertain and weak (Swisher 57). "The Puritan age and its sure morality was an obsession in his life,"" said Canby. In the Puritan Community, man was viewed as innately corrupt and punishment was used as a warning to keep others from ... straying from morality (McPherson 38). "Punishment was a tool to create a civilized society in a savage world,"" stated Williams, "there severe punishment reflected the harsh environment that surrounded ...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... bottled inside for seven years. The torment he endured from Roger Chillingworth, Hester's anonymous husband, caused the destruction of his character and inevitable death. The story dealt a great deal with the idea of sin, the punishment that comes from it, and the repentance that some undergo to cleanse themselves of that sin. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the author uses the scaffold ... the father of Pearl. Cleary, this shows that for a sin of this magnitude, the privacy of the home and a select few is the best way to handle the situation. Had Hester revealed Arthur as ...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6

... to the bosom, where Hester's scarlet letter "A" is clipped. Pearl is the consequence of her mother's actions and faults and serves as a reminder of Hester's sin, and is more of a punishment than a blessing, and should have the same place as the scarlet letter which Hester wears around. On the other hand, Pearl is ... natures own. In this view, Pearl is free from sin, and is able to be true to herself, which is the most natural thing to do. In the beginning of the novel, the scarlet letter "A" symbolizes shame and punishment. Hester, by her own choice, wears humble, dismal clothes; ... s...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... the whole town as, "... the unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes all fastened upon her, and concentrated on her bosom..." (57) From that point on Hester punishment includes displaying the letter A on her chest at all times to show to everyone the adulterous act she committed. The thought of making the emblem ... fact that Hester made the letter beautiful implies that she was not guilty of a crime. The act she committed was not a crime against humanity, nor was it a crime against nature. The only negativity of what...

• Word Count: 1687
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... scaffold Hester Prynne was publicly shamed years ago, the same scaffold he should have been on. Climbing atop this structure and later being joined by Pearl and Hester, something pulsed through his body and he was revitalized. However, he still refused to admit his crime in front of the town. Finally, when the book reaches its climax, Arthur succeeds in winning back the spirit ... to tell his congregation of his horrible crime. With his last steps, he ascends the scaffold and completes something he feels he should have completed seven years earlier. He accepts his sin, he accepts Hester...

• Word Count: 2338
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... regardless of her sin, can affect the community in a positive way. In the beginning of the book Hester Prynne is publicly humiliated as a punishment for breaking a Puritan belief and one of the Ten Commandments; adultery. She is then forced to stand in front of the town for hours as the crowd tries to break ... were immoral in their eyes. Their fear of sin and wickedness drove them in their quest to do what they felt was right. The society had to protect itself from its own judgment. Their fault was that they only saw Hester for the crime she had committed but not as the woman she was ....

• Word Count: 1521
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... a way of repentance. Hester has to suffer the consequences alone because her fellow sinner will not admit to his crime, which in time drives him to torture himself. Hester continues in her punishment as a form of her repentance because she believes that if she keeps the "A" on she will serve her ... is not the greatest is because she is sorry for her actions. Hester proves she is truly repentant for her actions when she serves her punishment willingly by wearing the scarlet letter. Hester also tries to reason her sin through the fact that it was committed out of love. This is ... These ea...

• Word Count: 2203
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... when she almost covers up the letter with her hand. Preachers will stop in the street and give sermons when they see Hester. The letter therefore becomes an example of crime and acts as a deterrent for others in the community. Throughout the beginning chapters Hester is isolated and looked down upon by the Puritans. During "Another View of Hester," Hawthorne explains to the reader ... single time in the novel that Hester removed the letter from her bosom she seemed to explode with youth, freedom, and passion. Yet once it was placed back on her breast, once again she was confined to her ...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... those of persons whom some crime, or misunderstood virtue, or misfortune, has set by themselves, or in a worse companionship of solitude (Symons 1597). The Scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores sin and its consequences. The focus of attention is Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Each of these ... A scarlet letter "A" is permanently placed on her dress to symbolize her adultery, and she is made to stand on the scaffold with her baby for several hours of public humiliation. This is her punishment, the heaviest that man can afflict upon her. Hester is to ...

• Word Count: 1373
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , which affects each character in a different way. The characters who are affected by the letter are Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne (Schneider). The scarlet letter is a sign by which the colonial authority seeks to fix the crime of adultery and the criminal, Hester Prynne. The "A" both indicates, yet hinders the Puritan community's authority over Hester's identity. As the novel progresses ... , the letter changes meaning from adultery to ability, in the eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine, and the...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... hand in Hester's punishment when he engaged in the same sinful act. Also, I found it ironic that "Pearl," a name often associated with elegance and purity, came from something so sinful and immoral. Symbolism, being the key stylistic device of the novel, is most important and revealed throughout the novel ... it represents the harshness of the Puritan society and the atonement for sin. It was there that Hester was charged, where Dimmesdale came to seek comfort in the night, and where he eventually admitted his crime to the Puritan people. Nature itself represents temporary ... relief fr...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... interwoven characters written in a technically complex format. The symbolism of the prison, roses, the scaffold, the letter "A," contrasts between light and dark, and the forest throughout the novel are the undefined characters. An understanding of these symbols is vital to a complete comprehension of the complexity of ... she again returns to the residence in the forest where she lived fulfilling her punishment. Since she does not live for profit, people, mostly women, bring her their troubles and seek her counsel. And there she returns to her chest the symbol of this "dark tale." Only...

• Word Count: 1915
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School