... confessing, Dimmesdale redeems himself in front of his own inner moral suffering. The climax of the story is also the final solution for his problem. Hawthorne's novel brings to our moral judgment a questions of human ethics to all times and societies. Whether we are to judge and lay blame on sinners is up to the moral values of each of us. The modern character of the novel stands in revealing the "chilling ... worth" of virtue used for revenge. Chillingworth's evil ploy fails when confronted with Dimmesdale's confession ... ...

• Word Count: 1627
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... describe peoples' emotions in good detail. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is all about people and their emotions. The first part of the story describes each different character's life and how they have messed it up terribly. He lets you get to know the characters well on the inside so the story has more of an impact on the reader. Then he ends up describing them ... describe peoples' emotions in good detail. "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" is all about people and their emotions. The first part of the story describes each different character's life and how they have messed it up terribly. He ...

• Word Count: 1368
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... happiness and goodness. One of the most happy and cheerful characters in the novel is Pearl, who is represented by the light. As Fogle (1969) states, "Pearl is the character most recognized for her presence in the sun" (p. 38). The sun is drawn to her as she is drawn to the sun. In one scene, while in the forest with her mother, Hester, Pearl ... given, which is making her a darker person as she strays from the light. Chillingworth, Hester's husband when she was having an affair, is one of the darkest people in the novel. As Tharpe (1969) states "Roger Chillingworth is a character who i...

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

... , she rebelled against the community and its unconscious neurotic values. Hawthorne uses Hester's character as a reflection of the subconscious urges of the community, while he uses Dimmesdale as a representative of the entire Puritan community. He effectively uses Hester as a study of morality with contrast to Dimmesdale as well. Hester's sin was born out of her love for Dimmesdale, the minister. Her superego, which is developed from surroundings ... community and wore her 'A' as a prize, rather than a shameful brand of her sin. Hester seems to be extremely clear headed in contrast to t...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... , she rebelled against the community and its unconscious neurotic values. Hawthorne uses Hester's character as a reflection of the subconscious urges of the community, while he uses Dimmesdale as a representative of the entire Puritan community. He effectively uses Hester as a study of morality with contrast to Dimmesdale as well. Hester's sin was born out of her love for Dimmesdale, the minister. Her superego, which is developed from surroundings ... community and wore her 'A' as a prize, rather than a shameful brand of her sin. Hester seems to be extremely clear headed in contrast to t...

• Word Count: 1596
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne 332). It is "a general impulse to seek coherence- a syntax- in life, but it is the artist above all who does so most heroically, who is the champion of our general endeavor" (Hawthorne 452). Usage of signs is important to Hawthorne because it allows him to show the values and ideals of Puritan society in his work. In The Scarlet Letter, the ... having a bright personality in contrast with her gray surroundings. The contrast that Hawthorne presents helps to emphasize the character of Pearl and makes her more distinct. The children of the other society kept P...

• Word Count: 1468
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... church materialize repeatedly as both characters and as topics of conversations. Religion is presented through reflections of the protagonist "Lieutenant Henry," and through a series of encounters involving Henry and a character simply identified as "the priest." Hemingway uses the treatment of the priest by the soldiers and by Henry himself to illustrate two ways of approaching religion in a situation in which God has no place, and employs ... ridiculed. For one, they question his intelligence, with one soldier proclaiming that "all thinking men are atheists". Also, because of his reli...

• Word Count: 1357
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... -isolation, relationship with his wife, and the inscription on his tombstone after he returned to Salem, all show that the conflict had a profound effect on his life. This conflict is the theme of the story, and reflects on the society of the time. It was very important to the life of the main character, a great change took place in Young Goodman Brown, and it altered his private ... passion forever. In our lives we should never lose faith in things. The simple act of ... faith enables us to reach our goals and achieve our ... ...

• Word Count: 1340
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... motion represents an indication to Hester to keep his identity sealed between Hester and he. Chillingworth's choice to keep his identity hidden instigates him to develop a psychological state of obsession of revenge for the rest of his life. He is fixed on the need to find the father of Pearl. The next scaffold scene portrays the growth of these character's emotions and psychological states of mind. The second ... spot where, seven years since, I should have stood." (220). Dimmesdale said this to finally confess his sin to the world. His sin now has been released from his heart to his co...

• Word Count: 1995
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... letter. And in this scene, the letter is represented in Pearl twice. The first is in her apparel. Hester spent hours working on Pearl's clothes to "create an analogy between the object of her affection, and the emblem of her guilt and torture"(Hawthorne1387). The last representation is in the child herself. "In truth, Pearl was the one, as well as the other ... . It is their belief that religion and law are almost identical and "the mildest and severest acts of public discipline were alike" (Hawthorne 1359). In fact to them, even free speculation can be a "deadly crime." The Puritans pra...

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

... strict when dealing with one's peers. In a constant struggle to be faithful to God and to perform good works that would ensure status as Elect, members of Puritan society faced much pressure to be exemplary citizens. However, not all of these Puritans were able to follow all of the demanding moral codes and procedures all of the time. It is human nature to sin, as no humans are perfect, but the degree ... as well. But none suffered as did the secret father of Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, the town reverend who kept his secret bottled inside for seven years. The torment he endured from Roger ...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6

... God's presence so they could not interact with His presence directly; much like the ancient Israelites, we are forbidden access to knowledge of the true nature of the subject at hand. By presenting all observable evidence as obscured, Hawthorne forces us to face a deep-seated desire for clarity in the world. Without this clarity, we, like Phoebe, become fearful-however ... state of permanent uncertainty. Overarching Hawthorne's creation of suspense through style and diction is his creation of suspense through content-specifically, his use of limited perspective to disempower the reader. ...

• Word Count: 1547
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

... . Hawthorne uses Georgiana and her destruction to grandly reveal his belief that people must embrace their humanity and all its flaws. Georgiana is the most important character in "The Birthmark" because she is the carrier of the birthmark and all of its views, interpretations, and consequences. In "The Birthmark" Hawthorne exposes all the different views of Georgiana's birthmark. To some, including Georgiana at one point ... , the birthmark, according to Hawthorne, is a beauty mark that "[m]anywould ... ...

• Word Count: 1568
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the other women advice on what not to do. Hester Prynne's life was a tragedy from the moment she committed the act of passion with Reverend Dimmesdale and accepted it as a decision that creates who she is instead of as a sinful act. Through most of her life all that she desired was to be with Dimmesdale. Her immense passion to feel affection with somebody is what ultimately lead ... to her feel isolation from her entire community. Her isolation creates the callous sense about her which is the ultimate downfall for ... the happy ending that the reader secretly hoped she would. Hester su...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Hester donates every bit of money, time, and effort to charity if she has the ability to do so. Hester makes more than the cost of living. Consequently, she gives her extra money to charity. Some who receive this money are actually more fortunate than Hester, and often "insulted the hand that fed them," (Hawthorne 80). Hester never ceases giving all she has for those ... because she believes she does not deserve any extra time, money, or effort. In fact, because of the great things that Hester accomplishes, the scarlet letter "A" comes to mean something completely different to the Purit...

• Word Count: 1429
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 's anonymous lover. Chillingworth is self-absorbed and both physically and psychologically monstrous. His single-minded pursuit of retribution reveals him to be the most malevolent character in the novel. C. Arthur Dimmesdale is a young man who achieved fame in England as a theologian and then emigrated to America. In a moment of weakness, he and Hester became lovers. Although he will not confess it publicly, he is the ... . She is wise far beyond her years, frequently engaging in ironic play having to do with her mother's scarlet letter. Her name came from her mom, she was her mom's only...

• Word Count: 1337
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... the ascent, plunged into the hollow, and overcame, in short, all the difficulties of the track, with an unweariable activity that astonished him. He could not but recall how feebly, and with what frequent pauses for breath he had toiled over the same ground, only two days before." Throughout this story, the character of Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale possesses a weak and feeble personality, but in ... this passage, immediately following his conversation in the woods with Hester, Mr. Dimmesdale acts completely out of character, "leap[ing] across the plashy places," and using "unaccustomed physi...

• Word Count: 1256
• Approx Pages: 5

... Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, both bearers of a Scarlet Letter of Adultery, one public and one private. Hester Prynne, the bearer of the scarlet letter in public, is the central character of the book. However, the suspense of the story revolves around Dimmesdale and his private mark of adultery. Antagonist The antagonist is the effort to hide the identify of the male adulterer, who is Pearl's father ... . Both Hester and Dimmesdale fight to keep the identity a secret, but for ... Governor Bellingham, he is present during all three scaffoldscenes. He represents the puritanical at...

• Word Count: 1929
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... Such helpfulness was found in her--so much power to do and power to sympathize--that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification," (110) and now believed it to represent the concept of "able." Many the townspeople realized what a high quality of character Hester possessed. They would call to each other, "Do you see that woman with ... had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison" (39). The way Hawthorne chose to illustrate his character enables the reader to discern the author's ...

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

... fearful dream."(pg. 75). Goodman Brown's life had been changed completely as a result of his quest. In "The Minister's Black Veil," the character achieves the most success of all. In the story, he is adamant about wearing the black veil over his face. Mr. Hooper wears the veil during a mass, in order to hide his face to symbolize that everyone in fact wears an "invisible veil ... " to hide their sins. He desires to wear it the rest of his life, and this makes his ... though in meant everybody would reject him. He never gave up, even when on his deathbed. He pushed his cause to the very ...

• Word Count: 1477
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A is given to the characters Hester and Dimmesdale. According to the law of the Puritan society and the strict interpretation of the Bible, adultery is one of the deadliest sins that led to the deadliest punishment - execution or corporal punishment. The letter A came to symbolize different things for each character. For Hester, the Scarlet Letter symbolizes her adultery and for ... ; she made no claim upon it, in requital for what she suffered; she did not weigh upon its sympathies. Then, also, the blameless purity of her life, durin...

• Word Count: 1309
• Approx Pages: 5

... himself when he becomes lost in the woods, Goodman Brown is confronted by a devilish character who tries to turn him to do his bidding. However in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado," Edgar Allan Poe writes in the first person point of view from the perspective of Montresor, the diabolic narrator of this tale, who vowed revenge against Fortunato and has developed the perfect plan for ... mother, father, and his wife Faith. After seeing all of these people in the woods, he becomes very angry with his community. He now has to decide whether or not to join this group of evil beings. ...

• Word Count: 2414
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... sentence her. They sentenced her to wear the scarlet letter and to stand on the scaffold in front of everyone. She feels that there is a heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes staring at her while she was up there. Another character involved in this scene is Pearl. This scene occurs when Pearl was just a little baby . Pearl got all of Hester's turmoil, anguish, and ... up among human joy and sorrow and to never battle with the world but to be in it. The last character in this scene is Chillingworth. Chillingworth is afraid of loosing his prey(revenge), Dimmesdale. He is begging him ...

• Word Count: 1336
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... the way Puritans deal with sin. Hawthorne's universal belief that guilt endures until penance is made is delineated by the way in which puritans deal with guilt. Hester Prynne, a main character, plays the role of a sinner from the beginning of the book. She is characterized as a very strong, independent woman, who bears a beautiful scarlet A on her chest. The Puritan ideals ... on the scaffold and cannot bear the ridicule she "clasp[s] the infant closely to her bosom"(Hawthorne 48). She does this to try to hide the scarlet letter, but she notices that one shameful thing would not help t...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... " was regarding a scientist named Alymer whose ultimate goal was to remove a birthmark off of his wife's face. "Rappaccini's Daughter" was about a scientist named Dr. Rappaccini who created a Garden of Eden, made his daughter poisonous, and lured a man in to be her husband. All of the stories illustrated the character's desire for power over others and the consequences brought as a result of power. Mr. Hooper, Alymer, and Dr. Rappaccini ... all exhibited pride in what they were trying to achieve. Mr. Hooper intended to wear a black veil for one sermon, but after ... ...

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