Scarlet Letter Townspeople :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter, scripted by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many profound characters. The township intrigue the reader because they little by little evolve throughout the book, as would any solitary character. In the get down of the novel, they are generally rigid and judgmental towards Hester, because she has committed adultery. Throughout the novel, they slowly allow Hester and her daughter into their community, but still look at them with suspiciousness and doubt. Finally, in the end of The Scarlet Letter, the town forgives her of her sin, and she cautiously finds her place in society. Hawthorne uses the strict Puritan townspeople as a criterion by which all societies can be measured. The townspeople, as with any individual character, deliver a certain depth that develops with knowledge.Readers generally characterize the Puritan township in The Scarlet Letter by their attitudes in the beginning of the novel. When Hester introductory walks into the scene, most of the towns people are very harsh and strict in their religions. They believe that adultery is one of the worst sins possible. One unyielding charr says, &8220This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is thither not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and in the statutebook. Then let the magistrates, who strike made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray. Although a youthfulness woman and a righteous man try to intervene with the irate old women, their voices are never heard. Also, Hawthorne associates ugliness with wickedness therefore, all of the close women are described as being very ugly. They regard her not as a fellow sinner but as a woman so evil that she must be ostracized from her &8220perfect community. They view the blood-red letter that she wears upon her breast as a symbol of her atrocious nuisance of adultery and nothing more. The women in the beginning of the novel are so quick to pass judgment on othe rs, yet they fail to manage the sin in themselves. Once they realize this obstacle, the townspeople will turn over more understanding of Hester&8217s situation.Throughout the novel, the harsh Puritan townspeople begin to realize the abilities of Hester despite her past. Hester works selflessly and devotes herself to the wellbeing of others. &8220Hester want not to acquire anything beyond a subsistence of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her child.