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Critique of the scarlet letter
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Why do people judge others by being different? Why should people follow society's rules while each person is different in their own unique way? Flashback to the 1960s: African Americans were separated from the Whites from water fountains to bathrooms and schools, even in churches. Diversity wasn’t acknowledged or even thought of until the late 70s, where there were more protesting and awareness brought to our society. The media helped educate and overdramatize during these times but they did support the movement of equality and the elimination of segregation. Present day: It’s still hard to believe this was over fifty years ago in our country’s history and yet segregation and separation still exist, not to the extent of how it was in the 60s. …show more content…
Tons of people, regardless of their gender, race, sexuality, and others have been harassed by their own kind. Newer and older books tend to use this theme of harassment to make the plot more interesting, and the Scarlet Letter does just that. Hester Prynne was commended by her neighbors due to the fact she didn’t have a husband to claim her and Pearl, her baby. Hester was put into trial in front of everyone, letting the people harass her since she didn’t tell the truth due to the fact her husband, Roger Chillingworth, who ironically came to her trying to see his wife in the middle of the drama. Chillingworth even gave her a gesture not to mention him. On the flipside, Dimmesdale, the actual father of Pearl, was extremely nervous because he’s in charge of the trial, meaning his words would be the final sentence. For her punishment, Hester had to wear a scarlet letter. The letter was a way for the people to identify that she committed the crime of adultery. The scarlet letter has even influenced us in the real world. Ohio is surely guilty about that since they used a form of publicly humiliating and harassing people by scarlet lettered and numbered license plates, who were under the influence of alcohol. Another example of harassment is in modern times. Being harassed doesn’t have to be to the extent of public humiliation. An online poet named Josey Tom wrote a poem titled Individualism vs Society and it describes how he or the peers around him tried to be different but society told them that they were considered outcasts. Throughout the poem, Tom makes every verse about how he tried to be himself but them society mocked him. He even stated that he wanted to avoid this but they clipped his wings and forced him to be like everyone. Josey also mentions his skin color and his package but society has harassed
Reading the Scarlet Letter reminds me of one of my own experience. When I was a fifth grade elementary student, two of my friends and I agreed to cheat on a geography test. On the day of the test, one of my friends was caught. The teacher found the cheat sheet where it showed the handwriting of the three of us. When he was asked who the other two is, he remained silent. The teacher said that he will be punished, standing in the corner of the classroom for one straight week, and it will be lighter if only he told our name. My friend still did not say a word, so he received the punishment. What he did was similar to what Hester Prynne does. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as a woman with remarkable strength of character through direct and indirect characterization.
“Woman, it is thy badge of shame!" (107). Governor Bellingham was describing the scarlet letter to Hester while they were discussing if the punishments that Hester had to go through were adequate enough for the crime. Hester was living in the outskirts of the city in a small abandoned cottage for several years with the only thing that had any monetary value in her life, her child and the product of committing adultery, Pearl. She and her little Pearl were shunned from the community for her acts. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is punished in more than one way, and she is able to deal with it openly so the community will, over time, forgive her.
In the article The Flip Side of Internet Fame by Jessica Bennett, Internet harassment is thoroughly made aware to inform active social network users of its solemnity. Real life scenarios of people who suffered from public humiliation or social desecration are presented. Bennett makes her argument conclusive by addressing her audiences' pathos and ethos appeal, sourcing credible individuals throughout the article and stressing the agony and ignominy that the listed individuals perceived. Furthermore, the author demonstrates how critical it is to be conscious about the possibility of not recovering from a fatal encounter on a social network and also raises the question: “What's to stop a person from posting whatever he wants about you, if he can do so anonymously and suffer no repercussions?”(115). Bennett tries to enlighten the reader of “the dark side of Internet fame”(113), showing how publicity may not always be marvelous.
First, there many instances, both literal and symbolic, which support the notion that the scarlet letter has a strong affect on Hester. As seen early in the novel, the public opinion of a seventeenth century puritan society can be quite narrow-minded. As Hester is first marched out of the prison, the women of the town scowl at her. "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead." (p.36) The initial opinion of the society is extremely cruel and Hester, who tries desperately to remain strong and undisturbed in the face of this mob anger, is by no means deaf. The cruel actions of the townspeople throughout the novel contribute to the ways in which the scarlet letter affects Hester. Yet, these affects of the scarlet letter on Hester can be defined more specifically when examined on the symbolic level. In many ways, Hes...
In ‘The Scarlet Letter’ Nathaniel Hawthorne has created a society in which “religion and law were almost identical” (Hawthorne 57). Just as in any other society, all the members within the limits must obey the law. Disobeying these laws result in punishment. One such character is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. After Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s affair with Hester Prynne, Hester is forced into a permanent state of shame when she is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest. Be that as it may, something isn't right about the Reverend’s retribution. Instead of being shamed publicly, Reverend Dimmesdale’s punishment is much different. Instead of living with the torments of others, Reverend
In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the letter is understood as a label of punishment and sin being publicized. Hester Prynne bears the label of “A” signifining adulterer upon her chest. Because of this scorching red color label she becomes the outcast of her society. She wears this symbol of punishment and it become a burden throughout her life. The letter “produces only a reflection of her scarlet letter; likewise, the townspeople's image of Hester revolves around her sin. The evil associated with Hester's actions and the letter on her chest consume all aspects of her life, concealing her true beauty, mind, and soul” (R. Warfel 421-425). Society pushed blame upon Hester Prynne, and these events lead to the change of her life. The Puritans whom Prynne is surround by view the letter as a symbol from the devil, controversially some individuals look upon the letter, sigh and fell sympathy towards her because they have or are involved in this same situation. Nonetheless the haunting torture Hester Prynne battles daily drags on, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this torture “of an impulse and passionate nature. She had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely wreaking itself in every variety of insult but...
At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the “bad guy”. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, but Hester denies this revelation. She does not reveal it because she knows that the information will crumble the foundation of the Puritan religion and the town itself. “‘But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?’ ‘Ask me not!’ replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. ‘That thou shalt never know!’(Hawthorne 52). Hester knows that finding out that the father of the child, the Minister that is leading the town, will diminish credibility for the church and for Dimmesdale, the Minister. During her punishment, Hester decides to move out near the woods and make a living as a seamstress. Hester is regarded as an outcast from Boston, but she still gives back to the society that shuns her. ‘“Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, —the town's own Hester, —who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!’”(Hawthorne 111). Her acts of kindness, helping the sick and comforting the afflicted, toward the society that makes her an outcast shows the inner goodness of a person. Throu...
Why one judges another may be due to the fact that people have been doing so for centuries and it has simply progressed over the years. In her Difference Matters book, Brenda Allen states that a “reason we might suppose that certain persons occupy particular roles… stems from a complex history in the United States of systemic, socially reproduced inequities” (2-3). The problems America faced when becoming a unified country were not easy, as many know. Though social injustices such as racial and religious discrimination, gender inequality, are not as predominant today as they used to be, the history of it remains. People are reminded of the past inequalities and continue to judge others intentionally or subconsciously. Furthermore, the connection between “identity shifts and historical cultural configurations, [suggests] that certain character types are encouraged by cultures through differential socialization practices” (Howard 7). The way people act is influenced by when, where, and who with they were raised. Someone born in the 1930s will have different surroundings, which will effect how that person acts and thinks than compared to someone born in the 2000s. Identity itself and how one perceives another individual’s identity goes hand in hand with the history of how it came to
Readers generally characterize the Puritan Townspeople in The Scarlet Letter by their attitudes in the beginning of the novel. When Hester first walks into the scene, most of the townspeople are very harsh and strict in their religions. They believe that adultery is one of the worst sins possible. One unyielding woman says, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and in the statutebook. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray.'; Although a young woman and a righteous man try to intervene with the angry old women, their voices are never heard. Also, Hawthorne associates ugliness with wickedness; therefore, all of the stingy 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 “perfect'; community. They view the scarlet letter that she wears upon her breast as a symbol of her atrocious crime of adultery and nothing more. The women in the beginning of the novel are so quick to pass judgment on others, yet they fail to recognize the sin in themselves. Once they realize this obstacle, the townspeople will become more understanding of Hester’s situation.
Because people judge others, and tell the community how they should think about them, those who are judged
Society is filled with outcasts. Everywhere one looks, there is someone who is different and has been labeled as an outcast by the others around them. People fear disturbance of their regular lives, so they do their best to keep them free of people who could do just that. An example of this in our society is shown in people of color. Whites label people who do not look the same as them as and treat them as if they are less important as they are. The white people in our society, many times unconsciously, degrade people of color because they fear the intuition that they could cause in their everyday lives. Society creates outcasts when people are different from the “norm.”
Public humiliation is known as making everyone aware of an embarrassing act done by one. Throughout The Scarlet Letter a character experiences public humiliation. Nathanial Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne as an example of this. “To those who would condone Hester’s sin, on the grounds that she knew love, Hawthorne presents the painful reality of the evil that arises from breaking the laws of the society” (Stromberg 275). Stromberg states that that author makes a clear illustration of the consequences one has to embrace if he or she ever breaks the laws written for society. Throughout the book, Hawthorne mentions idea of the Black Man, symbolizing Satan. “The mark of the Black Man, which both Hester and Dimmesdale w...
Workplace harassment is unwelcome actions that are based on a person’s race, religion, color, and sex, and gender, country of origin, age, ethnicity or disability. The targets of the harassment are people who are usually perceived as “weaker” or “inferior” by the person who is harassing them. Companies and employers can also be guilty of workplace harassment if they utilize discriminatory practices against persons based on ethnicity, country of origin, religion, race, color, age, disability, or sex. These discriminatory practices have been illegal since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964), and have been amended to be more inclusive of other people who experience discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (The Civil Rights Act of 1991), and most recently, President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Stolberg, 2009).
Harassment and discrimination claims are due to lack of education about the subject. As an independent human resources consultant, Santiago-Santos will organize a local education campaign and provide employers with different trainings to educate them and their employees about harassment and discrimination. Employers will have a better understanding on how to develop internal policies and procedures to address these claims. Also, trainings will be provided for employees and they will be educated on how to prevent and identify harassment and discrimination as well as what steps to take in order to report such behavior.
In today’s workplace, sexual harassment is a growing problem. The legal definition of sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. Another definition is the making of unwanted and offensive sexual advances or of sexually offensive remarks or acts, especially by one in a superior or supervisory position. Women and men of all ages, backgrounds, races and experience are harassed on the job. Sexual harassment encountered in workplaces is a hazard across the world that reduces the quality of working life, jeopardizes the well-being of women and men, undermines gender equality and imposes costs on firms and organizations.