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The black veil allegory
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Comparing The Scarlet Letter and Long Black Veil The song, "Long Black Veil", written by Johnny Cash has many similar elements to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both have to do with the sin of adultery that ends up hurting the characters in the stories. In "Long Black Veil" a man is convicted of a murder because he cannot provide an alibi for the night that another man was killed. It turns out that the night of the murder, this man had been "in the arms of his best friend's wife." The man ends up being executed while the woman punishes herself for not saving his life by wearing a long black veil. "Long Black Veil" and The Scarlet Letter both demonstrate how secrets can destroy one's life. This theme is shown through the sin of adultery, the punishments that the characters go through and the symbolism of the long black veil and the scarlet letter. The original sin of adultery is what starts the events that end up ruining the characters' lives. "Come up hither, Hester, thou and little Pearl...Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!" (p. 133). Though it is never said out in the open, you come to the realization that Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have committed the sin of adultery and when Hester becomes pregnant, she is convicted for that sin. "I'd been in the arms of my best friend's / wife" The man and his best friend's wife also commit the sin of adultery and when he cannot give an alibi to a judge because he does not want anyone to know where he was that night, he is convicted for murder and executed. Adultery is what ends up destroying the characters lives because none except for Hester are willing to admit to the sin of adultery. The punishments that the characters must undergo are worsened by the fact that they do not tell the whole truth. Hester has been found guilty of adultery but when she is asked to tell whom it was that she committed the sin with she refuses saying "Never.
Hester is a youthful, beautiful, proud woman who has committed an awful sin and a scandal that changes her life in a major way. She commits adultery with a man known as Arthur Dimmesdale, leader of the local Puritan church and Hester’s minister. The adultery committed results in a baby girl named Pearl. This child she clutches to her chest is the proof of her sin. This behavior is unacceptable. Hester is sent to prison and then punished. Hester is the only one who gets punished for this horrendous act, because no one knows who the man is that Hester has this scandalous affair with. Hester’s sin is confessed, and she lives with two constant reminders of that sin: the scarlet letter itself, and Pearl, the child conceived with Dimmesdale. Her punishment is that she must stand upon a scaffold receiving public humiliation for several hours each day, wearing the scarlet letter “A” on her chest, represe...
Hester could not escape her evil husband nor her liability in augmenting Authur's anguish. Secondly, Hester's adultery was the most prominent sin in the eyes of ...
Morrie Schwartz was being interviewed because he had been diagnosed with A.L.S., a weakening disease that leaves his “soul, perfectly awake, imprisoned inside a limp husk” of a body. Mitch contacted his professor, after watching the show, and then chose to fly from his home in Detroit to see Morrie at his home in Newton, Massachusetts. After their reunion, Mitch left to report on Wimbledon for his job. During his time away, he spent his time thinking constantly about Morrie. He rushed back to Morrie because he was now seeking more meaning to life and knew he could gain it from his beloved professor.
... she was worthy of redemption, but after seeing a fellow sinner receive redemption, she saw that God is indeed merciful. Hester wrestled with her sin, and to finally conquer her sin, she came back to the place that it had occurred. Hester wanted the peace and grace of forgiveness, and with the help of the scarlet letter, began dealing with her sin. Secret sin plays a key role in our lives, and although most of us don’t have physical symbols of this secret sin, it is embedded in our soul. Secret sin tears apart the human soul and psyche, and only after it is dealt with, can we move on to find peace or happiness. We need to make sure that the things that we do wrong, we don’t hide. We have to deal with these sins, and turn them into stepping stones, so as to grow and become a better person. Hiding them leads to destruction, but growing from our faults has no limits.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, effectively employs three major symbols: light, dark, and the scarlet letter. The novel relies heavily on light and dark symbolism to represent the eternal struggle of good versus evil.
Light and Dark Light and dark is an everyday aspect of life, The Scarlet Letter really reveals how light and dark everyone can be. Though it was sometimes hard to read, the book made me think more about the good and evil in everyone. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Hester Prynne is considered a light and dark character in the book; many of the things that are noticeable about Hester in the book involve the sunshine. Hester explains this to Pearl in the book “Thou must gather thine own sunshine I have none to give thee” (Hawthorne 95).
Hester Prynne goes against the Puritan ways and commits the sinful act of adultery. The townspeople often talk about Hester amongst themselves in the marketplace, “This woman has brought us shame”, for her sin brings them much grief (99). For this irrevocably harsh sin the town magistrates sentence Hester to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’ as a constant reminder of her sin, and for all to recognize her as an adulteress.
Their discussions changed Mitch’s life. Before the weekly lessons with Morrie, he appeared to be terrified of love and commitment. He was also afraid of displaying affection like kissing, touching, hugging or crying. He broke promises to Janine, didn’t save a lot of time for her, and was basically str...
...t with the sin in a completely different way not only because she was a different person, but because there was no additional weight of a secret that went along with the sin. Instead of trying to figure out her identity, the way Arthur had, and clinging onto the belief that what she had done was not a sin, she allowed herself to surrender and believe what the rest of society believed at that time. The people of Boston saw adultery as a sin, and there was no way that any good or love could come out of it. When Arthur's character is tested, he struggles to find the answer but is unable to, and literally dies trying. Hester, on the other hand, does not give such a noble attempt, but rather chooses, whether consciously or not, to go along with society’s views of adultery.
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is another character who suffered from Maycomb’s racism. He was a respected, wealthy member of the community, but then he chose to live with the black community. This was considered a felony by the inhabitants of Maycomb. He knew they would never be able to understand his choice, so he made it easier for them by pretending to be the town drunk.
The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason for her change in personality. The secrets Hester keeps are because she is silent and hardly talks to anyone. “Various critics have interpreted her silence. as both empowering. and disempowering. Yet silence, in Hester’s case, offers a type of passive resistance to male probing”
Love can exist in many different ways, especially in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. The types of love in the play include love between or for family members, love for friends, love for self, love of an idea or cause, and, of course, romantic love. There are many different perspectives of what type of love Shakespeare is trying to focus on during his play, or, better yet, what he is trying to tell them about it. In his personal life, Shakespeare did not seem to be a big fan of love. He was forced to marry a woman named Anne Hathaway due to impregnating her prior to marriage, but after a while moved away and never saw her again. In his will, he only left her his bedclothes. This inspired people to come up with different theories, one of which is that he simply fell out of love, and could never look at Anne again. For that reason, Shakespeare aims to show the reader that when taken too far, passionate love leads to destruction. This becomes evident through the actions and words of three important characters. The first is friar Lawrence, the priest in the play, who warns Romeo about his dangerous love. In addition, there is Juliet, the young girl in the relationship, who takes her own life as a consequence of love after marrying impulsively. Lastly, there is Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, who shows his opinions about love and women in general. The play circulates around the idea of obsessive love and its disastrous outcomes.
With each visit Mitch notices how quickly Morrie is deteriorating and he can see how the illness has taken over his body almost from head to toe. Morrie eventually succumbs to the disease and passes away in the serene and peaceful way he hoped for.
While telling Mitch stories of his life experiences and beliefs, he teaches him to reject the corrupt customs supported by the popular culture, but instead follow his own personal set of values. Morrie is not involved in the media as most of America is, but invests himself in people and their potential to love (Albom 97). Another way in which Morrie rejects popular culture norms is in his acceptance of his weakening disease and imminent death. He has lived and loved with all of his heart, and intends to do so even in his final days. Living his life as an independent man, Morrie finds it difficult having to rely on others for his basic needs. He refuses to be embarrassed by his physical inabilities and looks forward to “being a baby again” (Albom 89). In his childhood he was deprived by love, affection, and human touch. Morrie grows from this stating, "The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in" (52). Now that Morrie is dependent as others again as he was in his infancy, he indulges in the affection of his friends and
The importance of materialism in Tuesdays with Morrie. Many people are very confuse on what they think really makes them happy. Morrie all through the memoir shows us that what really makes happiness is being love and giving love. For example, when Morrie talks about family he said that it doesn't matter how much money you have, if you don't have the love and companionship of a family, you really don't have anything that is worth. Mitch is an example of the type of people that think money makes happiness because since the death of his uncle he has dedicated himself to work and not his family. Morrie says, “These were people so hungry for love th...