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themes and morals in the scarlet letter
nathaniel hawthorne critical analysis the scarlet letter
the theme in the story of scarlet letter
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The Scaffold in The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is characterized by
three major events that occur on the town scaffold. What takes place on
this platform will determine the path which the three main characters,
Hester Prynne, Mr. Dimmsdale, and their daughter Pearl will follow. The
three scenes mark the beginning, middle, and end of their ignominy.
The scaffold is a platform where criminals are punished before all
the townspeople. In this case, the criminal is Hester Prynne and the crowd
has gathered to witness her shame. The first scene at the ominous platform
is Hester's first public appearance with the child and the scarlet letter.
Hester's husband, Roger Prynne (Chillingworth) makes a sudden reappearance
and is among the onlookers. The Reverend Mr. Dimmsdale is also there but
he does not stand with Hester on the scaffold, instead he stands on the
balcony with those who pass judgment on her.
During this time, Reverend Mr. Wilson demands that Hester give the
name of her lover. He gives her the chance to "take the scarlet letter off
[her] breast" if she were to "speak out his name"(64). Had she relented
and revealed his name she might never have had to endure the humiliation of
the scarlet letter. But she refused, and so her path was set.
The second time at the scaffold was a turning point for Hester.
She, Pearl, and Dimmsdale are together for the first time, "...the three
formed an electric chain" as if they were always meant to be together if
something, or someone, had not gotten in their way (140). But it is here
that Hester finally realizes the damage which hiding Chillingworth's
identity has caused Dimmsdale. Chillingworth was "a secret
enemy...continually at his side, under the semblance of a friend and
helper..." when in truth he was tormenting Dimmsdale at every opportunity
(153). When Hester sees the miserable state that he is in, weak and "on
the verge of lunacy", it leads her to later seek him out in the forest to
confess the true identity of Chillingworth, which in turn leads to their
plan to leave Salem.
Their plans were never carried through because of another visit to
Chapter 15- After Chillingworth left the meeting with Hester, Hester for the first time realized that she hated him. This change occurred very rapidly as she went from pity to hatred after realizing all the pain that he has caused not only her but everyone that he has been in contact with. We also get another example of a juxtaposition that Hawthorne has created between the relationship Hester has with Chillingworth and Dimmesdale respectively. Hester’s relationship with Chillingworth is a hate filled one with no love, while her relationship with Dimmesdale is a forbidden one that is filled with love. Hawthorne has an obvious motive in writing this chapter, and that is to demonstrate to reader the effects of being consumed into something. Chillingworth
The three scaffold scenes bring great significance to the plot of the Scarlet Letter. The novel is based on repenting the sins of adultery. The scaffold represents a place of shame and pity but also of final triumphs. Each scene illustrates the importance of the scaffold behind them with many potent similarities and differences.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne three major events occur on the town scaffold. The scaffold serves as a place of public humiliation and shame. Hawthorne places three events that occur on the scaffold that play a major role. The first appearance of the scaffold is when Hester serves her time of public humiliation. The second appearance of the scaffold scene is throughout the middle of the novel when Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale arrive together on the scaffold. Hawthorne then brings the three back together once again in the third scaffold scene to end the tragic story of the Scarlet Letter. The three scaffold scenes play major roles throughout Hester and Dimmesdale’s life.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to mark the development of Hester Prynne. The image of Hester atop the scaffolding is a metaphor for her forced solitude; for her banishment from society; and for the futility of her punishment. In the first scene, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to explain how Hester can not believe that the “A'; and the baby are real. In the second scaffold scene, Hawthorne tries to convey to the reader that Hester has fully repented for her sin, however this is not true. In the final scaffold scene, Hester does not yet fully repent for her sin because her love for Dimmesdale is still strong. Through Hester, Hawthorne is trying to communicate to the reader that it difficult for Hester to repent the sin of adultery.
Acid rain has been proven to have damage forests, fresh waters and soils, killing insect and aquatic life-forms. It also causes damage to buildings and impacts on human health. Many people do not know what acid rain actually is. Acid rain is any form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, low pH levels, higher than normal amounts of sulfuric and nitric acid, occurs naturally and from man made sources. Forms when gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals (what is acid rain?). The only water that will not have some amount of acidity is pure water. Pure water has a pH of 7 which is neutral; regular, unpolluted rain water has a pH of around 5.6. The acidity in rain water comes from the presence of Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Sulfur Dioxide. CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid. Nitrogen and water react during lightning storms, forming Nitric Oxide. NO is then oxidized to form N02. The NO2 reacts with water to form nitric acid. Due to this, the pH is lowered to be slightly acidic (Acid Rain). Acid rain can occur naturally in the environment, but the problem occurs when human interaction is the cause of the acidic levels.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many important scenes that are being introduced to the reader that highlights the effectiveness of the development of the plot. In addition to that, the author develops these segments to help emphasize the importance of the events that are happening in the novel. He specifically chooses to include the three scaffold, or platform, scenes to show the readers how each symbolizes the significant changes of the characters. Hawthorne purposely includes the scaffold parts in the beginning, middle, and end to show how the scaffold affects the plot structure. He also puts the sections in this
Rain occurs nature as part of the water cycle, but sometimes rain can do more harm than good. Acid rain can causes damage to plants, animals, and even structures. Acid rain occurs naturally without human interference, but since humans started to make objects that contribute to the creation of acid rain, it happens more frequently than if humans would not be involved. People not only raised the amount of acid rain that falls, they can also be the ones to bring the amount back down to reasonable levels.
In ‘Anthem of Doomed Youth’ Owen shows another version of the suffering- the mourning of the dead soldiers. When Owen asks “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?”, his rhetorical question compares the soldiers to cattle as they die and suffer undignified. Owen uses this extended metaphor to confront us with the truth, that there are too many fatalities in war. As such, the soldier’s deaths are compared to livestock, to emphasise their poor treatment and question our perspective about soldiers dying with honour. With an overwhelming death toll of over 9 million during WWI, Owen depicts how the soldier’s die with the repetition of “Only the...” to emphasise the sounds of war that kills soldiers in the alliteration ‘rifles’ rapid rattle.’ Owen also illustrates the conditions that the soldiers died in and how they were not given a proper funeral in the cumulation ‘no prayers nor bells,/ nor any voice of mourning.’ Owen painfully reminds us that we have become complacent with the deaths of soldiers, seeing them as a necessary sacrifice during human conflict. Thus, Owen shows us what we have overlooked about war, that is, that it brings endless death and long-lasting grief to the surviving soldiers and the people around
Ultimately, we have two poems which can be compared on the grounds of their subject, but are poles apart regarding their message. The structure of these poems is not what would be typically expected from a war poem, but are structured on the basis of these typical structures in order to create some sense of familiarity. Brooke’s poem expands on this familiarity while Owen attempts to deliberately sabotage it. In regards to content, Brooke shows throughout his perception of the nobility of dying for one’s country, whilst Owen uses all of his poetic techniques to show the opposite.
Acid rain has a harmful impact on the environment which is a serious environmental problem that affects large parts of the United States and Canada. Acid rain is particularly damaging to lakes, streams, forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems. Acid rain is referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. They are oxidized in the air until they are converted to sulfuric and nitric acids. These acids are then captured by raindrops which fall to the earth as acid precipitation. This process is called deposition. We know this as acid rain, but we can have acidic snow or hail and even acidic dust particles falling from the sky. It can occur in natural resources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides resulting from fossil fuel combustion.
Acid rain affects many things in our world greatly. Acid rain is precipitation that has been released into the atmosphere and is very harmful and can do lots of damage.
Present day churches can be filled with hypocrites. Some members and religious leaders go to church to look nice and appealing to someone else. They present themselves as holy and perfect and incapable of doing wrong, but they know they are far from that. As hard as they may try to look and act like the perfect being, the truth of their imperfect ways will be revealed for all to know. This is the case with the character or Arthur Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale appears incorruptible, revered and strong, but in reality he was corrupt, dishonest, and weak.
"Acid rain describes any form of precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids. It can also occur in the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of dry material that settle to Earth." (Howard, 2014). The pH of pure water is 7 and, naturally, the pH of rain water is slightly acidic; usually around a 6 on the pH scale. Rain is considered acid rain when its pH is lower than 5.6. Acid rain is not acid falling from the sky like some people seem to assume. It is rainfall that is mixed with elements and gases that then cause the moisture to become more acidic than usual. The release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are the result of the combustion of fossil fuels and, therefore, two of the primary chemicals found in the production of acid rain. "It is thought that acid rain began around 1950 to 1955 in the Northeastern United States" (Likens, 1996).
Every day, factories, power plants, and even your cars emit dangerous chemicals into our atmosphere. When these chemicals mix with the moisture in our air, acid rain is produced. Acid rain falls onto lakes, rivers, fields, and forests destroying them. Acid rain is a serious environmental concern, however, it can be prevented.