Things Aren’t What They Seem

The Scarlet Letter is an interesting story.  But I'm not sure I agree with every aspect of the story.  After I finished The Scarlet Letter I was a true Hester supporter; I supported her decisions, actions, and her path to redemption.  But now that I've had some time to cool down from my emotional reading, I've begun to take another perspective on this issue.  Had I been alive during Hester's time and seen her story unfold I doubt I would have been a Hester supporter.  Adultery was a serious crime in the 1600's and is still an embarrassing issue today.  I don't even think I would have supported Hester had she lived in today's more understanding time period.

So what did Hawthorne do that changed my mind about adultery and Hester?  Well first of all The Scarlet Letter's protagonist is Hester Prynne; the story was bound to show a bias toward her.  Second, The Scarlet Letter is a classic romance novel; the reader wants to see that true lovers unite (which in some way they did).  Third, The Scarlet Letter was written by a man who felt he was misunderstood.  In “The Custom House” Hawthorne complained about how his fellow officers were “sitting in old-fashioned chairs, which were tipped on their hind legs back against the wall. Oftentimes they were asleep” (Hawthorne 2).  Nathaniel had always believed that he came from a good and pure family, but later learned that his family had taken part in several crimes such as the Salem Witch Trials.  I think his other works are evidence to show how affected Hawthorne was by this revelation.  He incorporates issues about family name into all of his novels.  It only makes sense that The Scarlet Letter follows the story of a similarly misunderstood character; a marked woman.  He transformed the image of this Hester Prynne into something beautiful -- into something the unmarked women could not even be.

Though Hester seems to parallel with many of Hawthorne’s personal issues, she was not the only one in The Scarlet Letter.  Dimmesdale may not have admitted his sin early on in the story, but he was greatly affected by the sin.  So much that he would whip himself and created his own letter A on his skin.  I think Dimmesdale may be much more like Hawthorne for Dimmesdale silently dealt with his sin and embarrassment. 

Hawthorne does a great job at changing the reader’s perspective about several issues and the fact that he did so in the 1800’s is an even greater accomplishment.  We will never know if the original story of Hester followed with the same plot line, but I feel that this story was very important in a sociological perspective.  If readers could connect with Hawthorne’s characters and plot line maybe they could do so in real life as well.  I can’t say that he has completely succeeded as I still came back to my original perspective, but it was definitely very enlightening.  Maybe things aren’t always as they seem and we should take a different perspective on all issues.