One Letter Can Change Everything

Before starting on The Scarlet Letter, I was reading another book, titled Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. It’s a darkly funny story of a teenage girl who starts her first year of high school as an outcast, a result of an unfortunate turn of events over the summer. It’s a really good read. But the reason I’m saying this is because not only was it good, but funnily enough it actually mentioned Nathaniel Hawthorne, his book The Scarlet Letter being the subject of discussion in an English class. This weird coincidence increased my anticipation to read The Scarlet Letter for myself, if I could only finish that introductory. The Custom House was a bit confusing to me, and it was a little hard to concentrate on. Otherwise, I thought The Scarlet Letter was a very good book, filled with drama and descriptive characters and events that cause it.

One major theme I found in this book was identity. As a punishment for adultery, Hester is ostracized and has to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest, to label and shame her. But when faced with the opportunity to remove the letter, even to leave town and start a new life, she refuses. She doesn’t want the townspeople to feel right in shaming her, to do what they expect of her. Instead, she denies their power over her and configures the letter into her own identity. Even her daughter saw the letter as a part of who Hester was, and was uncomfortable seeing her without it. It is a reminder of her past experiences and mistakes, but she isn’t shamed by it, but uses it to help her grow. I thought it was interesting how people who had never heard of her before, looked upon the letter and it’s impressive design, and saw it not as a mark of shame and sin, but more as a mark of awe and importance. To me, that really exemplified the meaninglessness of the letter, and even the Puritan’s practices all together.

In the other book, Speak, a statement is made The Scarlet Letter is “all about SYMBOLISM”. The most obvious symbol of the book would be the scarlet letter itself. It started off as a symbol of shame, A for adulterer. But as the story shifts, so does the letter’s meaning. After enduring the glances and jeers from others for seven years, Hester still stands her ground, refusing to move, refusing to take off the letter, and raises her child in the same town. So the letter comes to mean “able”. And then, as mentioned earlier, the Native Americans see it as a sign of significance. Overall, the letter represents Hester, her struggles, and who she is. This book portrays the idea that a symbol can mean anything to anyone who beholds it, and I love that. That idea can be seen during the scene with the meteor that manages to form an “A” in the sky, too. The puritans take it to mean “Angel”; a reference to their deceased governor, but Reverend Dimmesdale sees it as a sign that he too should be shamed just as Hester was. To each his own….

Of all the various characters in this book, I found Pearl to be the one of most interest. She is the result of a sinful event, thought by some to be the Devil’s own daughter. However, she is loved by her mother very much, and not cast away for being who she was. Pearl grows to be carefree and mischievous, but always by her mother’s side when needed. She doesn’t really seem to care too much of what others think, but is rather curious as to why they stare. She’s perceptive and smart too, and questions things, like why her mother wears the letter, or how come Reverend Dimmesdale only speaks to them when no one can see. But the thing I liked most was how she totally blasted the expectations of the townspeople away. Pearl frightened them a bit, and they saw her as an offspring of shame, and expectations probably weren’t the highest. But in the end, she inherits a “very considerable amount of property” from Hester’s actual husband when he dies, and becomes the richest heiress of her day. This was a nice little twist to the story, something like a repayment for the Puritans’ insults to her in the past. It made me laugh to think what the expressions on the townspeople’s faces must have looked like.

The Scarlet Letter was an excellent, dramatic, insightful novel. I loved all the ideas and symbols of this story, and it’s now one of my favorite classics, right up with The Great Gatsby. I hope you enjoyed. :)