... with gold thread. Through the crowd's remarks and the narration of Hester's thoughts, it can be concluded that the scarlet letter stands for "adulteress." Hester has been accused of adultery and the small child in her arms is illegitimate.   In the third chapter, a small, deformed man accompanied by an Indian is identified in the crowd. As Hester's eyes search the gathering of people, she recognizes him and a look of horror flashes across her ... , because it is better for his fragile health. Hester has connections to a crew of a ship, which is to leave for England in four days. As he w...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... the opinion, by using the aforementioned concepts, that he is critical of the way that the Puritan humanity regard their less fortunate members of society. For over 100 years, the New England Puritan beliefs dominated most of America's first settlers. The Puritans voyaged to America in search of religious freedom that they were not being granted in their former homes in Europe. They followed the teachings of God in the Bible ... sins and not to hide anything. Throughout the novel, the degrees of guilt grow stronger for some and weaker for others. Hester's and the minister's and the old m...

• Word Count: 3188
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... never submit to this. He will immediately turn to the darkness. Drawn by his own cords of fear and longing, man will imagine that he is tired of the light and his small, familiar world.3 "No amount of rationalization... or Freudian analysis" can overcome "the thrill of the chimney-corner whisper or the lonely wood."4 Why? Children will always be afraid of the dark and men will always shudder at what they ... as a self-described psychic,"18 which depends exclusively on her faith. Richards relates the story of how, when she was young, she always said she wanted to talk to God. Because of th...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... as she walks by. Hester also begins to hate children, who unconsciously realize there is something different about her and thus start to follow her with "shrill cries" through the city streets. One of the things which Hester starts to notice is that every once in a while she receives a sympathetic glance, and feels like she has a companion in her sin. Hawthorne puts it, "it ... Arthur Dimmesdale and pleads with him to speak on her behalf. He comes forward with his hand over his heart and argues that God has obviously given Pearl to Hester for some divine reason, and that it would meddle...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School

... Zenobia than to her (117). Coverdale does recognize that he said these mean things out of jealousy, admitting, that, "Yes; it was out of a foolish bitterness of heart that I had spoken- (117). Curiously, Coverdale does the same thing to Zenobia later, when he tells her that "Hollingsworth could hardly ... for Priscilla- (154). Although the relationship of Priscilla to Coverdale is important because it is through his eyes that we, the readers, see the story, their relationship is not as important as the two to be discussed below, because, as Coverdale says, "Priscilla's heart was deep, bu...

• Word Count: 4739
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography