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.