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Themes of “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorn



Name: - Yesha Bhatt M.
Course: - M.A. English
Semester: - 3
Batch: - 2015-2017
Enrolment no: - PG15101003
Submitted to: - Smt. S.B.Gardi Dept. of English MKBU
Email id: - yeshab68@gmail.com
Paper no: - The American Literature
Topic: - Themes of “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorn






      In “The Scarlet Letter”, there are important themes like Sin, Knowledge and Human condition, The nature of evil, Identity and society and The tongues of flame. When we read “The Scarlet letter” and come to know about various characters, we can find out different themes. All characters have contradiction in themselves. Hester Prynne is a sinner as well as innocent, Arthur Dimmsedale is on high holy position but also a sinner and guilty, Chillingworth wants revenge and has villainy character but on the other side he is also suffering because of his wife’s betrayal. Puritan society has high values but still people like Arthur Dimmsdale, Hester Prynne and Chillingworth are there.
      
      In this novel, Hawthorn has depicted the puritan society and their values of living life. Themes are important part of novel because it reveals the secrets of this so called “reputed” society.

Here is the explanation of 3 major themes,

     1)  Sin, Knowledge, and the Human Condition
  
      The concept of ‘Sin’ has the important role in each characters part in the novel. Hester and Arthur’s sin is responsible for their condition. But here the question is

Who can decide that any act is a sin?
Where from the concept of sin has come into existence?

     The obvious answer could be “religion”. Sin is the construction of religion. There are 10 commandments in the Bible, and if the person doesn’t follow these commandments he or she is a sinner.


~  10 commandments:

  • I am the LORD thy God
  • Thou shalt have no other gods
  • No graven images or likenesses
  • Not take the LORD’s name in vain
  • Remember the sabbath day
  • Honour thy father and thy mother
  • Thou shalt not kill
  • Thou shalt not commit adultery
  • Thou shalt not steal
  • Thou shalt not bear false witness
  • Thou shalt not covet (Wikipedia)
     These commandments are listed in Hebrew Bible and these all should be strictly followed. The religion has decided the parameters of sin and purity.
    
      The story of Hester and Arthur with the concept of sin recalls the story of Adam and Eve. The sin of Adam and Eve was also disobedience and in the story of Hester and Arthur there is a disobedience of 10 commandments and Puritan rules.
     
      Here is the dialogue from the novel which proves that Hester was aware with everything and though she was bravely accepting everything.

“Never!” replied Hester Prynne, looking, not at Mr. Wilson, but into the deep and troubled eyes of the younger clergyman. “It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!”
   
      The major question is why they have committed sin, and how they have become sinner? The answer could be all that has happened because of passion and in the moment of very emotional condition of mind. But as far as knowledge is concern, it is the opposite side of religion. When knowledge works, it works against the ‘faith’ and that is why the contradiction is there. Knowledge comes from ‘doubt’ and it breaks the idea of ‘faith’ by providing ‘thinking’. The same has happened with Eve and Hester both. In both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge—specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as “her passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” leading her to “speculate” about her society and herself more “boldly” than anyone else in New England. Eve’s concept of freedom and Hester’s decision of living alone with the help of heavenly father is similar.

 “I will not speak!” answered Hester, turning pale as death, but responding to this voice, which she too surely recognized. “And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!”
    
     The human condition in the novel is because of their sin and having knowledge about their sin. Arthur knows that he is the man whose name Hester is not revealing but still he is continuously asking her. Both are aware with the fact, both are knowledgeable about the situation but they are not revealing the truth.
     
      Here is the dialogue of Arthur from the novel in which he is convincing Hester to reveal the name of “fellow sinner and fellow sufferer!!”

“The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale bent his head, in silent prayer, as it seemed, and then came forward. “Hester Prynne,” said he, leaning over the balcony, and looking down stedfastly into her eyes, “thou hearest what this good man says, and seest the accountability under which I labor. If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.”

     Sin and knowledge of sin have positive side also, as I have mentioned that themes have also contradiction when we deeply feel the agony of characters. Hester has committed sin and now she is beyond of all the rules of good and bad. She is morally more developed now. On the other side Arthur is feeling strong guilt and that is why his sermons and level of empathy has increased. The “burden” of his sin has given him “sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrates in unison with theirs.” His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy. Hester and Dimmesdale contemplate their own sinfulness on a daily basis and try to reconcile it with their lived experiences.  Both the characters have become enough sincere in their life. We can say that,

“Both are good because they were bad”
   
     The understanding of pain can developed only if we go through that pain. Arthur has gone through the pain as well as guilt. We can get this by his words in church, he speaks like he has developed sympathy as well as hatred for his own self,

“What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin? Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee, and the sorrow without. Take heed how thou deniest to him—who, perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself—the bitter, but wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips!”

      The Puritan elders, on the other hand, insist on seeing earthly experience as merely an obstacle on the path to heaven. Thus, they view sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and suppressed. Their answer to Hester’s sin is to ostracize her. Yet, Puritan society is stagnant, while Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows that a state of sinfulness can lead to personal growth, sympathy, and understanding of others. Paradoxically, these qualities are shown to be incompatible with a state of purity.

       2)  The Nature of Evil
   
       In the novel the reference of “Black man” is presented time and again by Pearl. “Black man” represents evil and bad person. If we take a deep insight to all the characters the concept of Black man is connected with Mistress Hibbins, Chillingworth, Pearl and Dimmesdale.
   
       Mistress Hibbins can be considered as Black man because she is involved in witch craft and black magic and also she used to wander in forest at night. Chillingworth also can be considering as a black man because he is taking his revenge from Hester and Aurthur and hiding his real identity. The cause of his being evil can be his betrayal by his wife. He was very much in love with Hester and when she has cheated him, he became evil by his nature. He denies Hester to reveal that she is his wife.

 Here is the dialogue from the text,

“When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips.”
   
     Pearl is calling Arthur a Black man without knowing anything; she is not entirely wrong because her father, too, has perverted his love. Dimmesdale, who should love Pearl, will not even publicly acknowledge her. His cruel denial of love to his own child may be seen as further perpetrating evil. Pearl is considered as a child of evil and this way she has also become evil by the town people.
    
     This confusion over the nature and causes of evil reveals the problems with the Puritan conception of sin. Characters are inter related and reason for the evilness of each other. The book argues that true evil arises from the close relationship between hate and love. There are different perspectives of evil nature by different characters,







   The evil is in human mind and it cannot be reflected on body, but on women’s body it reflects as the sin of Hester has reflected on her body as pregnancy. Arthur has not such sign of sin but Hawthorn has symbolically presented the scarlet letter which has immerged on Arthur’s body.


     3)  Identity and Society
     
    After Hester is publicly shamed and forced by the people of Boston to wear a badge of humiliation,

“Come along, Madam Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market-place!”
the description of Hester as a shameless woman presents her identity in society.

“This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray!”
   
     On the other side the identity of Arthur was very pure and reputed. The way he started the conversation with Hester shows his position,

“The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale bent his head, in silent prayer, as it seemed, and then came forward.    “Hester Prynne,” said he, leaning over the balcony, and looking down stedfastly into her eyes,”
   
     Hester’s behavior is premised on her desire to determine her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her. To her, running away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something from which she desires to escape. Instead, Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of which she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of her. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life.


Conclusion:
     
     By deep study of themes, the conclusion could be that Knowledge, thinking and questioning is the reason of sin (sin – as per religion and society) and human condition is the result of those sins. But largely the condition of ourselves depends upon us that how we accept it. The evil nature could be the result of circumstances, no one is born evil but it’s up to us how we tackle with situation and it depends upon our choice. Identity is closely related with society, but what society always thinks is not our identity. If we know our self better, society’s judgement cannot affect much. All depends upon our way of accepting the things.

Works Cited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia.
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments.






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