The Scarlet Letter Chapter 2
It is surprising how a novel
written such a long time ago can be relevant to our everyday lives. In the novel The Scarlet Letter we meet the person wearing the scarlet letter in
the second chapter. We are told that she
is about to leave the prison and take a walk through the town to stand on a
platform where the people of the town will be able to look upon her and
basically judge her and make her feel bad about herself. Before she goes to this platform she is met
by a crown outside of the prison. In
this crowd there are many women, and like the women in the twenty first
century, these women love to gossip.
The women in this group cannot help
but talk about Hester Prynne, the woman who is shamed with the scarlet
letter. These women in the group are
saying that if they had the power in the town and were able to make decisions
about things such as Hester Prynne’s fate, Hester would have a much more severe
punishment than the one she had. If this
were not enough, another woman in the group says that she believes that rather
than having to wear a scarlet letter on her clothes, which she could easily cover-up,
Hester should be branded. This woman
says that they should have taken a hot iron to Hester Prynne’s forehead. This woman thinks that she should never be
allowed to walk on the streets with her head held high again.
The first two women who are seen
speaking are extremely cruel and show no sympathy for Hester. On a different note the third woman who speaks
says “let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her
heart.” (Page 49). Until this point all
of the other women wish to punish Hester more, but this woman says that she
will always have her shame no matter if it is shown outwardly or not. By committing the sin the town has punished
her for she will be punished by her personal shame and by God. This can be taken two ways, either as a
kinder approach to Hester’s perceived sin or as the worst accusation and idealized
punishment by any of the women so far.
Even after this the next woman
seems even crueler. She says that by committing
her sin, Hester has not only shamed herself, but she had shammed all the women
of the community. This woman does not
care where of even if Hester shows her sin to the public. She believes that Hester does not deserve to
live. This woman believes that there
must be a law somewhere in the Bible or in the settlement’s law that says
Hester must be killed for the sins she has committed.
These women are not much different
for the women and girls in the twenty first century. The girls today gossip about nearly everyone
they meet. They talk about people who
are often right there, and could probably hear ever word they are saying. The women in chapter two literally call
themselves “gossips” (page 50) shedding some light on the term we use
today. With all the criticism that
Hester Prynne is enduring from her peers it is very surprising how dignified
and upstanding she is depicted as while she is walking through the town. This shows me that Hester is a strong woman,
despite any criticism she gets, and this makes me really admire her.
So far I really like this book! Let
me know what you all think!
5 comments:
I completely agree with the fact that the way the author makes the women out to be, is exactly the way women are now. I think the fact that the story is still time relevant, and it is not completey set in the time frame it was written. I think the whole gossip aspect of the story is extremely relevant and the way that Hester responds to it is also important. I thought it was strange that throughout the first couple chapters she really did not respond to all of the talking and gossiping about her. I think the fact that people expected her to be ashamed of the birth of her child was really crazy. I also think her holding her baby so tight through all of the chapters was representing that she was not ashamed, and she was not going to listen to everybody's negative remarks of her and her family
Pro Leah and Lauren!!! I could not agree more with the both of yous. I too thought Hawthorne had made the women out to be the modern stereotype of the 21st century. in which would be considered a "gossiper". Or at least other way around since this story came before our time. Anyway more from Leah's topic, Hester's response I believe was relevant to her character. From what I saw she pretty much laughed in these peoples faces and showed she could care less. She was doing what she had to do like a strong and independent woman would do.
Nice start Lauren, but be careful not to waste too much time discussing plot. Focus more on your reactions, personal connections and questions.
I very much agree with you about these town "gossips", in the sense that they are very cruel and seem to have no filter or feelings. We know that girls today gossip and say "I don't care if people know that I'm talking about them" or "I'll say it to their face," but if someone else was talking about them, they would get all defensive. In a way they are hypocrites. I can also see why you admire Hester herself. Last thing is that I feel like they women feel that they are the only ones who have a right to sentence Hester to punishment because they are women. Could this be an early sign of a feminist movement?
good comments
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