Scarlet+Letter+Journal+-+Respond+to+the+Responses

Sarah Smith, Excerpt Six: (70)

“Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s fraility and sinful passion.” At this point, the ambiguity of Hester’s perspective on her public humiliation by the scarlet letter is resolved. During the first few chapters, it seems as though Hester isnt letting the intended shame truly run its course. On her way to the pillory post, she walks almost with an air of confidence, choosing to decorate her scarlet letter as to make it less of an ugly punishment. But Hester’s true feelings about her lifetime punishment become clear in the paragraph preceding this quote, and the true sentence of her punishment is shown within it. The scarlet letter represents more than just an emblem of shame, it makes Hester a social pariah, and an example of complete sin for others. While she didn’t receive a fatal punishment, the scarlet letter serves as a lifetime punishment which perhaps exceeds the severity of death.

Sheehey - Perhaps, but somehow the word "fraility" seems potentially ironic to me. That is, while Hester feels the shame of the letter deeply, the clergy may be seeing her incompletely

Jessica Solomon

“It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (60)

At this point in the book, Hester is standing in front of the crowd while they are asking her who the father of her child is. She refuses to tell them who it is. The Reverend says to Hester that if she reveals the name of the father, then she can have the scarlet letter removed from her. However, she refuses and says that she can not remove it. Hester is basically saying that the sin that she has committed has already scarred her; that now she can not remove the past that is affecting her. She is also saying that she will take the blame for the father so this could mean that she was willing to have the affair. Now that she has had this baby, she is not regretting what happened but she is willing to stand up and be strong to take the blame for the father and herself.

Lauren Bender

“‘At the very least, they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead. Madam Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she- the naughty baggage- little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or suchlike heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!’” (45)

The townswoman examining Hester seems almost envious of Hester’s beautiful scarlet letter. I agree with the townswoman that Hester should be marked by something awful, such as an iron burn, if shame is meant to be shown. Instead a lavish and beautiful letter marks her. Hester in turn decorates the scarlet letter to show it off and therefore mocks the idea of carrying her shame. Hester is able to walk in the market place with a sort of confidence in knowing that the townspeople have admiration for her scarlet letter.

Carly Carlin

“ ‘Not thy soul,’ he answered, with another smile. ‘No, not thine!’” (68)

This passage implies that Hester’s husband, disguised as a Roger Chillingworth, plans to take revenge on Hester’s adulterer and not necessarily on Hester. The quote lets readers glimpse into the potential evils of this character and causes them to question Hester’s goodness in contrast to her husband’s malevolence. Was Hester justified in committing adultery? Or did her husband become angry as a result of it? The passage creates a tone of suspicion as readers are unaware of what will become of Hester, her husband, or the child’s father at this point in time. Readers do know however, that Hester’s husband is likely not one to be trusted and could grow to be something of a villain later in the novel. Ilana Bookner

“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.”

Many aspects of this passage evoke a sense of uncertainty. Such as the phrases “it may” and “let us hope”. The narrator is not sure of why the rosebush is sitting outside the jail and what that means, but he or she informs the reader of the possibilities, while still getting the point across that he or she cannot guarantee the correct answer. This style of writing reminds me very much of the style used by Hawthorne in The Minister’s Black Veil. In both stories the narrator is in the unknown and therefore puts the reader in the same position. I believe that this is a very interesting style of writing, for not only does it engage the reader, but it also allows the reader to see the novel in a slightly less biased point of view. Since many questions are left unanswered, the reader is more intrigued to figure out the solutions, therefore engaging the reader. The reader also gets a less biased perspective due to the narrator’s uncertainty. Because the narrator does not always know the right answer to a question, he or she explains the many different possibilities which allows the reader to see many different sides of the story.


 * Ethan Gottlieb: Chapters 8-10**

"even thus early had the child saved her [Hester] from Satan's snare" (104) and, “it grew to be a widely diffused opinion that Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale…was haunted either by Satan himself or by Satan's emissary, in the guise of old Roger Chillingworth” (114)

In comparing these two passages, a single conclusion becomes startlingly obvious: Roger Chillingworth, Hester's mysterious husband, represents something diabolical to the townspeople. In the first passage, it is suggested that by having an adulterous affair that resulted in having a daughter, Hester is able to avoid her husband's (Chillingworth) "snare." However, the most important thing to examine here is the point of view. Does the narrator believe that Chillingworth is "Satan himself" or is he acting as more of an omniscient figure - one with the power to forecast the events in the novel? Here, I think that he does have the ability examine the future, which is suggested by his saying "it grew to be a widely diffused opinion," as he does not take any of these statements as truth and he represents the townspeople as not knowing what exactly Chillingworth's role in society is.

However, this is complicated by the point of view in the first passage, as the narrator states something that he accepts to be truth (the child was saved by Satan's snare). By making Chillingworth a mysterious character - one who is mainly anonymous for we know Chillingworth is not his real name - Hawthorne is able to infuse these contradictions within the text, for Roger's true identity would solve the mysteries in the novel.