We began Hawthrone's novel
The Scarlet Letter today and got our first glimpse of Hester Pyrnne. What have you noticed in Hawthorne's novel about Hester, people, and punishment? What part of the beginning made you pause and think for a moment? Why? (The deadline to post a response to this question is midnight, Dec. 1, 2011.) PS: I hope you noticed this picture is accurate to the book.
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In the novel Hester seems to be an innocent girl that is very intelligent and knows what life is about. The elderly people in this book seem to be very unreasonable and relentless, on the other hand, the younger individuals seem to be a bit more intelligent in the field of life. The punishment that Hester is enduring is a little harsh because of one little mistake that she had made. The way that she was being punished made me stop and think about how lucky we are today to have developed into a more, for lack of a better term, reasonable society because there would be a great amount of people in jail right now because of extremely minor offenses.
I noticed that Hester regretted what she had done, but had too much pride to show it. The older people were crueler than the younger people but that is only because that is the way that they were brought up. The part where the court did not kill Hester made me think because they were not completely cruel and did not kill her and leave the baby alone.
The first thing that caught my attention was just how vicious the elder women were acting towards her and the fact that she committed adultery, and even more interesting was how the younger woman was behaving towards the whole situation. It seems as though the elderly crowd wants her to suffer physically for what she has done, but the younger girls feel as though she will suffer from having to live the life of an adulterer. It reflects modern society so much in that the elders of our generation are extremely strict, and the younger crowd is much more lenient.
It seemed to me that Hester knew that she had done wrong. However, it also seemed that she knew that it was not her fault alone, and she took a kind of pride in showing the community what they had made of her. The people watching her possessed no empathy whatsoever. In fact, the other elderly women seemed to take a kind of delight in punishing someone younger and prettier than themselves. The only one to speak in Hester's defence was another woman of the same age as her. I noticed that, unlike the people, the governers/magistrates/judges do seem to possess a realization that the punishment should fit the scale of the crime, for which I am a reader am thankful. What made me think was how the husband was two years late for coming to Massachusets, partly because of his capture, mostly because he was 'settling affairs' in Europe. Is Hester the only one guilty of adultery? I think not.
I noticed that Hester is ashamed but she is so strong in character she can not let the world see. I found it very inspiring that she did not turn in her fellow adulterer. She instead decided to suffer alone. I had to think for a moment when she had the chance to leave and she did not because i do not know if I would be able to stay. So far in the novel hypocricy in society. Although she bears the "A" and lives in shame, she helps the poor even though they do not appreciate her. This part of the novel shows how internally strong someone would have to be to endure the troubles that Hester had to go through.
I noticed how much dignity and pride Hester holds and how quick we are to judge and punish people we know nothing about. The part that really made me think Is when Hester chooses to stay in town because she knows she cannot escape her past. Often times, we feel we can run away from our past and our problems, but we cannot. I really admire that Hester realizes that and owns up to her mistakes.
After reading the beginning of the novel, I noticed that people are often disgusted by the sadism and pleasure that others get when a person is punished. Although they don't admit it, everyone has some joy in seeing their enemies receive justice. The part of the novel that brought pause to me the most was the critical nature that all of the villagers had toward Hester and the extent of punishment that people desired; death for adultery, to me, seems too extreme. When the ladies suggested she be executed and even when the villagers merely humiliated her publicly, I was offended. Although I see adultery as a sin because of its unfaithful demeanor, I also believe that people should not judge others nor execute them for regretful sin.
After reading the beginning of the novel, I noticed that people are often disgusted by the sadism and pleasure that others get when a person is punished. Although they don't admit it, everyone has some joy in seeing their enemies receive justice. The part of the novel that brought pause to me the most was the critical nature that all of the villagers had toward Hester and the extent of punishment that people desired; death for adultery, to me, seems too extreme. When the ladies suggested she be executed and even when the villagers merely humiliated her publicly, I was offended. Although I see adultery as a sin because of its unfaithful demeanor, I also believe that people should not judge others nor execute them for regretful sin.
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