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The Scarlet Letter


            Throughout the passage from the scarlet Letter, Author Nathaniel Hawthorne's emotions about the Puritans and the Puritan community are deeply expressed with a sense of critisism and mockery. The Puritans, who are to be honorable people with good morals, are described by Hawthorne as harsh, and hypocritical human beings.
             Hawthorne starts off by introducing the Puritans in Boston, anxiously awaiting the punishment of a prisoner. They seem to anticipate punishment, and are intigued and amused by harm that comes to others. For example, ".the women, of whom there were several in the crowd, appeared to take a particular interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to ensue." This seems to show just how harsh and unforgiving the Pritans are to anyone who does wrong or does something not of the Puritans way. Hawthorne also becomes intentionally repetitve by continuously using phrases like "it might be" in his passage to illustrate that these Puritans would find any excuse to accuse people of wrongdoing, so that they might be entertained by that one's punishment. The way Hawthorne describes these people shows his attitude toward Puritans not so much as a kind of malice but in a disbelieving and negative way. he believes any intentions the puritans have may result to a negative action and at the same time seems to ask the reader, "why are they this way?".
             Another way Nathaniel Hawthorne's attitiue about the Puritans is revealed is in the way he describes their physicality. The Puritans, who in this instance are the women Puritans, are visually illustrated as brute, masculine, and ugly characters. They are refered to as "man-like" and unsuitable representatives of the (female) sex." Hawthorne could have just described the women as not being feminine, but his use of diction is distict proof that his feeling towards Puritans are not in good interest. He also seems to compare the women to their diet.


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