IRA#13

Scarlet Letter Reflection





I liked this book, it was a little dry in the beginning, but it got better. Hawthorne depicted the historical reference of this story very well with the paranoia and the hypocrisy of religion. The major themes in this story are Sin,  Hypocrisy of Religion, and the symbol is the "Scarlet Letter". The theme and the symbol collerate with each other. Sin is Arthur and Hester's weakness. There foreshadowing tragedy is caused by commitment of one sin.  There are those who believe in God and are most pious individuals, and then there are those who pretend to be what they are not! The citizens may follow the minister, and what he says, but do they know anything about his life outside of church? He could be having an affair or secretly speaking to the "black man" and he would still be considered the most religious person in the world. That is defined as hypocrisy. Reverend Dimmesdale would preach to his parish about sin and repentance, but when would he repent his sins. You do something wrong, the trustworthy thing to do is own up to it. You shouldn't say one thing to make them believe you are what you aren't, when you are clearly in the same mess as your patrons. The symbol of the scarlet letter was only to be a punishment toward Hester, but it was more of a sign of redemption. The scarlet letter motivated her to get her life back together, while it made the minster's life worse. However, in the end, this fabric letter brought them together. 
I hate to say that this wasn't truly a happy ending. Reverend Dimmesdale finally saw the light and eventually passed away, and  Hester was still shunned for her adultery even though it was years 
ago.  Many of you might think that the scarlet letter was terrible, singling out a women from other women, and accumulating sin in a pious minister, but like I said everything worked out. Hester and Arthur finally were together, and being together for a brief time is better than nothing. Overall very good book. I would recommend it.