Scarlet Letter Analysis

The Prison Door
“The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness the might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne 41).
Analysis— Hawthorne lays out the main mission of the puritans in colony, to create a Utopia society that excluded sin. Puritans came from England because they wanted to purify the church, they came to New England to have a better society and be away from sin. They believe that people are born sinners and in the “Utopia” that they want to create, the puritans built a prison and a cemetery because they know that people are capable of committing sin and bad behavior. This way they are able to keep those who will stop them from purifying the community and getting in closer to God away from the “righteous” people. According to Hawthorns description of the jailhouse and people, in the puritan’s society, sin created a stain on the most divine trait of the human life. People who committed sin make the society a dark place. Sin links to cemetery which is associated with death.

The Market Place
“She clutched the child so fiercely to her breast, that it sent forth a cry; she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real. Yes!—these were her realities,—all else had vanished” (Hawthorne 50).
Analysis— the letter A stands for adulterer which (foreshadowing) is the sin that Hester Prynne has committed. The fact that she touches the baby and the letter afterwards lets the reader know that Prynne is surrounded by the symbols of sin and in question she asks herself if this is going to be her life. The baby, Pearl is the result of her being an adulterer and the scarlet letter puts her on the spot as a sinner. Reader can infer that the theme of this particular quote is sin because after she thinks about the life (past, present and future), Hawthorne directs her focus back to the symbols that are used to judge her, and in this case, it is the baby and the letter. Pearl is far the most important sin right now, but the townspeople are focus on the letter which leads to the failure of them to see the main consequences of Prynne’s action which is the baby because this child was conceived in sin.

The Recognition
“Speak, woman!” said another voice, coldly and sternly, proceeding from the crowd about the scaffold. “Speak; and give your child a father!” “And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!” (Hawthorne 57).
Analysis— there are two reason why would not talk about the father of the baby. First from the way Hawthorne describes Mr. Dimmesdale expression, he is highly suspect of being the father of the baby and Prynne does not want him to suffer the kind of prejudice that she is having right now and another reason is that she is scared just like the Kingston’s aunt from “No Name woman”. The puritans have a patriarchal society. Hester Prynne said that her child will seek heavenly father because she knows that even men that are associated with high statue in religion can fall to sin such as Mr. Dimmesdale who might be the father and Governor Bellingham. This way Hawthorne lets the reader know that Pearl instead of being a bad symbol in the community, she will blossom like the rose from chapter one since she is associated with heaven. Puritans, like the prison, are supposed to hate sin, but seem to thrive on it. All they want to do is watch sinners get punished and even executed which is the main reason they want her to divulge who the father of the baby is.

The interview
“Why dost thou smile so at me?” inquired Hester, troubled at the expression of his eyes. “Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?” ((Hawthorne 63)
Analysis— before this scene Chillingworth has forced Prynne not to reveal who he is and not to tell the mystery man about his presence, by doing this he has forced Hester to become the keeper of everyone’s secrets. Unlike Bellingham and Wilson, who are ignorant Chillingworth, seeks revenge and destruction, the way of the devil in John 10:10. His physical deformity mirrors his spiritual deformity. As Hester suggests, he is like the “Black Man,” because he lures others into sin. Hawthorne uses dramatic irony to let the reader know what the motives of Chillingworth are. Strangely the book describes him as an intelligent man, but also links him to the devil, it therefore emphases that knowledge without love is the greatest evil. The devil does not have compassion and so is Chillingworth who smiles at Prynne in her darkest moment and have already began to plot evil in his mind. This is the sin of deceit and envy.

Hester at her needle
“but it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride. The exception indicated the ever relentless vigor with which society frowned upon her sin” (Hawthorne 68).
Analysis— Hester chooses to live near the woods, on the border between forest and the town, is a metaphor that puts her somewhere between being a person or morality and immorality. She makes clothes for people, even dead people, but she can’t make clothes for marriage ceremony because she does show the example of being a married woman. The community did not want other women to emulate the actions of Hester so that the utopia community can survive. This action also lets the readers know that the society as a whole condemns her. She is not allowed to associate with beggars.

Pearl
“the talk of the neighboring townspeople; who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the child’s paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring (Hawthorne 79).
Analysis— Hester has passed on her own defiant “sinful” spirit to her daughter. The Puritans condemn Pearl, an innocent child. Each time she interacts with Pearl, Hester is forced to reconsider the life she has chosen for herself. Pearl is both the sign of Hester’s shame and her greatest treasure. They have condemned pearl because she is the daughter of an adulterer, she was brought into this world be accident. But pearl is also linked as having a heavenly father which means that though she is rejected by the society, she is not rejected by God which means that a good will come from her. Jesus Christ came to redeem the people from sin and was rejected by his people, but him having a heaven father made him have an earthly propose that helped people. Pearl’s existence also suggests that out of sin comes treasure. This idea is reinforced by Hester’s needlework: out of necessity born of shame, luxury and beauty are crafted.