ed by the fact that she lives in a strict Puritanical society, which is unable and unwilling to forgive her sin. The “little Puritans” are very “intolerant” of the mother and the child and often “scorn” them in their hearts and say unkind things to them. A t home, Pearl makes companions of everyday objects. She talks with ancient pine trees, imagining them to be Puritan elders. By resenting and reacting against the Puritan children, Pearl joins her mother in the same circle of seclusion from human society.
No better place to put someone on display for alleged wrongdoing. People are so consumed with others lives and "spirituality" that they completely ignore their own. This is because the actions of individuals are put in the spotlight for public scrutiny. The veil and letter are successful devices because of the shallowness of the Puritan community, especially those portrayed within these two works. The outsiders miss the point completely, the allegory is lost, but we see a positive result in The Scarlet Letter. Found in the conclusion is a description of Hester's growth as a result of the letter. Being able to withdraw herself from her mundane surroundings and ideals, she is able to gain perspective and see the reactions of her community for what they really are. Women in the community for advice seek her out because of her experience and the resulting wisdom she has gained. The true righteousness and genius within these works lie within the two put on display for their community; inflicted with seemingly dark and wicked symbols, they are able to stand on the other side of the madness and judge for themselves.
G.Nathaniel Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism
In this novel, Hawthorne used the repressive, authoritarian Puritan society as an analogue for humankind in general. The Puritan setting also enabled him to portray the human soul under extreme pressure. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, while unquestionable part of the Puritan society in which they live, also reflect universal experiences. Hawthorne speaks specially to American issues, but he circumvents the aesthetic and thematic limitations that might accompany such focus. His university and his dramatic flair have ensured his place in the literary canon.
Back to his attitude towards the Puritanism of ancestors, when Hawthorne read the accounts about his first American ancestors, he was reported to have read them with fascination and horror. He was different from his ancestors; he had a feeling to some extent of Puritanism as being intolerant and cruel. He seemes to think that the Puritan religion was too strict and harsh. You can see how he disliked them by the way people act, talk, and live.
Meanwhile, he also showed how he thought the Puritan people would react to the manner in which Hester stitched the "A", and he did not make them look very pleasant. By showing them as being ruthless, and evil, Hawthorne was able to reveal his views of the Puritan people, and how he disliked them through the townsfolk (the woman in particular). He made them come across as people you would love to hate. Throughout the entire book, Hester was looked down upon though slightly less as the story progressed, and treated like a second class citizen. Hawthorne showed his distaste of the Puritan culture by expressing himself through the characters and their actions. Not one person in this novel was truly good, and all the characters sinned. It was impossible to have a perfect society, and Nathaniel Hawthorne explained to us in The Scarlet Letter, that one ruled by the Puritan religion, proved this true.
Nevertheless, although he was shocked by the Puritan injustice, he was convinced that there was both good and evil in Puritanism. He thought a lot about the conflict of God as omniscient and omnipotent on one hand, and vengeful and cruel on the other. He saw that religion was able to produce evil. Things like the witch trials, where innocent people had to die, could happen in his Puritan hometown of Salem, which led him to the opinion that the fusion of religious dogma and political authority was the worst evil. His ancestors and all the other Puritans maybe thought to have found the devil when prosecuting witches, but Hawthorne was of a different opinion. Whose side was the devil on? Hawthorne’s answer was evil in everybody. It makes people blind so they are not able to recognize the evil in themselves. Therefore, Hawthorne tried to find distance from this face of Puritanism and lived Puritan ideology and philosophy in his own way.
In a whole, Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism was split. There were things he was absolutely in favor of and things he condemned from the depth of his heart. And to some extent, Hawthorne was a Puritan because of his Puritan origin. It was Puritanism that ha
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