Analysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter - 2052 Words

The Custom House- This part of the book serves a preface to the rest of the book, and we can assume that the narrator in this part of the book is Hawthorne himself. He clearly identifies his purpose for not only writing this portion, but also the book as a whole. Once he discovers the scarlet letter along with some papers, he places the letter to his chest and describes a moment of fantastic power. He says that the letter has power and it must be unlocked. This serves as his initial reasoning for writing this book. Chapter 1- This chapter sets the scene for the following chapter and partially introduces us to our protagonist. Hawthorne immediately implements symbols that will likely play a role throughout the rest of the book. He also offers many possible meanings for the rosebush outside the prison, but ultimately decides to leave it up to the reader. Hawthorne also introduces puritan ideals, and the creation of a prison almost immediately plays into the puritan ideal of all people being born with sin, and I believe this was his main purpose with this chapter. Chapter 2- This chapter formally introduces our protagonist, Hester Prynne, and she is seen walking out of the prison in the first scene. She is wearing an elaborately embroidered â€Å"A† on her chest. We can deduce that the â€Å"A† stands for adulterer from her child and from her prison sentence. The Scarlet letter not only symbolizes adultery, but also we can foreshadow that the community will shun Hester and alienate herShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2314 Words   |  10 PagesKatya Flaska American Literature Period 5 10 August 2014 The Scarlet Letter Book Analysis 1. The book is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The genre of the novel is historical fiction. 2. The preamble describes how the book came to be written. The narrator was a surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, where he discovered documents he used to write the story. He uncovered a manuscript with a scarlet â€Å"A†, which contained the events recorded by a previous surveyor in the 1600s. When the narratorRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1120 Words   |  5 Pages From the very first chapter, the Scarlet Letter guides readers on a journey that explores the darkness of the human heart and redemption from sin. It is in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that we introduced to a trio of characters interconnected by their sins: an adulteress, a minister and a physician. The adulteress is a woman named Hester Prynne who, as punishment for her transgressions, must wear a scarlet A on chest and is shunned by her community. Yet, Hester s eventual acceptance of herRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1141 Words   |  5 PagesBlake Allison P#1 AP NOVEL FORM 1. Title: The Scarlet Letter 2. Author and date of first publication: Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850 3. List four main characters with a one-sentence description of each. a. Hester Prynne- Hester Prynne, the protagonist and wearer of the scarlet letter, is a very independent, loving, intelligent, and at times depressed woman who is the mother of Pearl. b. Arthur Dimmesdale- Arthur Dimmesdale, the father of Pearl, is a reverend in town who is greatly honored forRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1563 Words   |  7 PagesReading The Scarlet Letter again, I imagine Hester Prynne as she steps out of the Boston jail. She carries her out-of-wedlock baby in her arms but does not hide the A she wears on her breast. Her crime, though it will never be named in the book by more than an initial, is placed on exhibition. Yet she has converted the letter into her own statement by fantastic flourishes of gold embroidery. She is a mystery beyond the reach not only of her fellow Bostonians but also of the readerRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1628 Words   |  7 PagesThe book, The Scarlet Letter, is about the struggle three people face while trying to live their lives and find happiness. In the early 1640s, Hester has come to the small town of Boston, Massachusetts, while her husband, Chillingworth, w as back in Great Britain. Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale, the town s priest, engage in the act of adultery and have a baby girl named Pearl, though only Hester knows that Dimmesdale is the father. She has promised Dimmesdale not to give up his identity. HesterRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1404 Words   |  6 Pageswhere the scarlet letter, A, is an extended metaphor that symbolizes a multitude of things: adultery, sin, charity, righteousness, grace, and the danger of merely thinking symbolically. It also compares and contrasts the current states of Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Arthur Chillingworth. With this, it has a logical progression to the book’s ultimate conclusion. This section can be done in a bulleted format with brief (2-3 sentences) summaries by chapter if that works for the book. Chapter 1:Read MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1143 Words   |  5 PagesIn the book,The Scarlet Letter, there are many questions that grab the reader’s attention. One of the most intriguing and thought ­provoking question is, â€Å"Is Hester Prynne a good mother and should she be allowed to keep Pearl?† This question does not have a simple yes or no answer, the reader must take into account many things the author mentions in the book. However, after careful consideration, one might find that Hester is not, in fact, a good mother, but should be allowed to keep Pearl. ThereRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1184 Words   |  5 PagesAs I began my summer reading assignment I wasn’t too amused at the beginning chapters of the â€Å"Scarlet Letter,† With Hawthorne throwing around words like â€Å"quietude† I wasn’t sure if it was truly the difference in his old English speech, or if he was tossing in obscure words just to send people looking through their dictionaries to find out if he had, in fact, made the word up, or not. But, as I delved deeper into Hawthorn’s work I found a brilliant story with some of the richest charactersRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter Essay1022 Words   |  5 Pagesand women was even more prominent and obvious during the antebellum era. In The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawthorne there was Hester Prynne and in The Two Offers By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, there was Janette Alston. Both of these women, rose above the rest, through adversity, hardship, and against all odds still came out on top, even during a time period that didn’t appreciate a strong woman. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, Hester Prynne, was thrown in jail and forced to wear a symbol of her sin andRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2029 Words   |  9 PagesThe Evolution of the A in The Scarlet Letter â€Å"So, in the course of the novel, the ‘A’ seems to encompass the entire range of human beingness, from the earthly and passionate ‘adulteress’ to the pure and spiritual ‘angel,’ taking into account everything in between,† begins Claudia Durst Johnson (128). Many believe the A in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter possesses only one meaning - adulterer; however, Hawthorne imbues the symbolic letter with diverse definitions. In the novel, Hawthorne