Scarlet Letter #4

Quote

"'I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this!' answered Hester Prynne, laying her finger on the red token. 'Woman, it is thy badge of shame!' replied the stern magistrate" (101).

Response

One cannot learn from their mistakes because mistakes are forbidden. If one makes a mistake they are not forgiven, they are labeled as an outcast. The magistrates do not believe Hester can teach Pearl any lessons from what she did because Hester is a disgraced woman, no lessons could possibly come out of what she has done. Boston is a society based on stringent opinions which are forced upon its inhabitants. Nobody is entitled to their own opinions, they are entitled to the opinions of their superiors.

Quote

"The old minister seated himself in an arm-chair, and made an effort to draw Pearl betwixt his knees" (101).

Response

Pearl would not go near the minister because she was unaccustomed to the touch of anyone besides her mother. The leaders are punishing Hester and Pearl because of Hester's sin. Pearl is being deprived of the social relations that are essential for a young child. Pearl is being condemned for something she had no control over. Pearl can never be a normal child because community leaders will not allow her to. Why punish one person for the sins of someone else?

Quote

"It is probable that there was an idea of penance in this mode of occupation, and that she offered up a real sacrifice of enjoyment, in devoting so many hours to such rude handiwork" (77).

Response

Many people throughout Boston felt the Hester's embroidered A was a sign that she was proud of her sin when this was not the case. She felt that her hours of devotion to making the A were a form  of punishment,  who wants to spend hour after hour stitching the very thing that is to isolate them from society. This was Hester's attempt at penance but she will never be able to forget her sins due to the fact that the A constantly reminds her of her biggest fault.

Quote

"Hester was ultimately compelled to stand aside, and permit the child to be swayed by her own impulses" (84).

Response

A parent cannot reward bad behavior, especially when they have a child born of an adulteress in a theocratic society. Pearl is already an outcast and her bad behavior will isolate her from others still more. As she grows older her behavioral issues will grow into genuinely bad actions. It would not be surprising to see Pearl end up in the same predicament as her mother.

Scarlet Letter #2

Quote

"'Madame Hester absolutely refuseth to speak, and the magistrates have laid their heads together in vain" (Hawthorne 58).

Response

This community prides themselves on finding sinners and punishing them yet they have not found both parties involved in the sin. It strikes me as strange that the community does not attempt to find the man who had a child with Hester. This is contrary to The Crucible, where perpetrators were forced to confess on pain of death. This society is a milder form of a theocracy but it is a corrupt theocracy because certain aspects of the Bible are not recognized. The theocracy of Massachusetts is an ignorant theocracy.

Quote

"While this passed, Hester Prynne had been standing on her pedestal, still with a fixed gaze toward the stranger; so fixed a gaze, that, at moments of intense absorption all other objects in the visible world seemed to vanish" (59).

Response

Hester Prynne is now going to have to face the man whom she had hurt the most, Roger Chillingworth. He may be yet another attempt to gain the name of the second perpetrator. This most likely will not be successful as it is apparent the Hester is more than willing to bear her sin along with the sin of the unknown man. Hester is a martyr for someone else, but she unfortuneately will never be able to be recognized because she cannot be forgiven.

Scarlet Letter #1

Quote

"It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow" (46).

Response

As we discussed in class, the rose bush seems to be a glimmer of hope next to a place that is filled with deep sorrow. The rose bush may give prisoners hope that their lives are not over merely becuase they are in prison. It marks hard times follwed by a redemption, hence, the contrast between the prison and the rose bush.

Quote

"She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes!-these were her realities-all else had vanished"(56).

Response

Hester is attempting to forget her sin and move forward but society will not allow it, one sin causes a person to be publicly humiliated and ridiculed. In a society that prides themselves completely on religion it seems counter-intuitive to exclude the major Christian theme of forgiveness. If a person repents they should be welcomed back into the community, this is not the case.