Difficulty Paper #2

Difficulty Paper #2

Coincidentally I watched the movie Easy A today. Which very loosely makes reference to The Scarlett Letter. What amused me about watching the movie and finishing the book was that yet again exemplifies the dramatic change in the way our culture has changed from punishing adultery and “sleeping around” to embracing it. I don’t know how I feel about the The Scarlett Letter. I had a really hard time reading the book, and understanding it, but though many may consider it to be a sort of love story, I really beg to differ. On one hand Hester is shown as a good, strong, endearing women, who unfortunalty lives a very difficult life, because of one mistake or act of love with Reverend Dimmesdale. But on the other, the two never end up happily together, and Hester really never seems to catch a break. I felt like it wasn’t a love story at all, just a very sad situation. I also don’t really know how I feel about Dimmesdale. Many times in the novel he acts as cruel as the other townspeople to Hester and Pearl, and at other times I just felt sorry for him because he was being eaten up so much about his sin, but conflicted on trying to do the right thing and confess his sin. In the end he does the right thing but, it seems to me like its just a little too late. The one thing I did like about the book was learning about the Puritan society and how extreme they actually were. I also realized while reading The Scarlett Letter that though we now live in the 21 first century, and things have completely evolved for the majority of the population, their are still some countries that believe in a similar manner to the Puritans. In my last semester English class, we studied Afghanistan. A rather odd topic, but very much enlightening and interesting culture to read and learn about. Many of the women in Afghanistan today are still being treated by society and men very similarly to Hester. It is definitely a sad situation for women to be treated and punished in such a harsh and unnecessary manner. And I think that is another aspect of the Scarlett letter that made it so difficult for me to read. I just felt so bad for Hester and Pearl, and I completely and do not agree with the any kind of abuse towards women; deserving and undeserving. Though Hester was completely guilty of her sin, she clearly was not an evil person; unlike Chillingworth. Hester tried to do good in the midst of her shame and embarrassment, and just like every human, fell into temptation. The Puritan society was not a forgiving one, and I struggle with believing the Puritans were pure and religious people with all the evil and unforgiving ways they treated Hester.

Difficulty Paper #1

Difficulty Paper #1

The Scarlett letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is quite a difficult book to read. It has been very hard for me to read the book because I find the language very difficult to understand. Though I have only read a couple of chapters, I’ve found that I have had to read some pages of the book over and over again to understand and comprehend what is going on in the novel. Hester Prynne is the main character of the novel and the story takes place around her being punished for being an adulteress and having a child out of wedlock. The story takes place in Boston during the 17th century. The puritans at that time have left England not only to practice their religion freely in the new world but also because they felt the church of England was impure. The Puritans do interest me in the novel because they are so different and extreme. That is one aspect of the novel I do find interesting is to see and compare how much our society has changed over the past couple hundred years. I feel sorry for Hester Prynne in many ways, not only because she is banished and humiliated by society but also because she now has to raise a daughter and be constantly reminded of her crime. Not only will Hester be living with her mistake but also her daughter pearl will as well. I don’t think Hester is a bad person though, like the Puritans believe so. What Hester did may not seem right to the eyes of many, I don’t think committing adultery is right, but I don’t think being punished as harshly as Hester is right either. I will just have to continue to read the novel and try to understand and comprehend the rest of this story.