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.