The Importance of Being Open To All Possibilities of Life, Depicted in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Emerson's Nature

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Individuals are products of society and, yet, society can also be a product of individuals. In either relationship, the individual and society affect each other. In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester becomes an individual through being open to being positively guided by her own values and morals even if those values and morals are not prescribed by society. Similarly, in “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson discusses how the individual has the capability to, if the individual is open, be positively inspired and changed by the natural world. Between the two authors, the main theme of the ability to be and stay open is used to explain the individuals’ connection to the outside world. Some of the situations where being open can positively guide a person’s identity are: the idea of being open to a unique lifestyle, being open to exploring the self and others in different locations, and the fact that children affect society’s future. Hawthorne and Emerson focus on the way in which the trait of openness can have a positive effect on the individual.

Hawthorne and Emerson discuss the idea that the individual will positively be affected if they are open to all lifestyles, even those not supported by the society. In “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester is open different kinds of lifestyles. More specifically, she is open to a lifestyle that is not condoned or encouraged by her society. The fact that Hester, as an individual, is open to experiencing life beyond the boundaries of what society defines as right or good, shows to be a positive thing for Hester. Hester chooses to follow “Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones,–and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne, 1...

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... sin. This recognition of sin as being a human trait can be seen as hope for the next generation. Similarly, in Emerson, the child in nature is highly regarded as a positive thing, especially since nature is a place where the individual experiences freedom and less judgment.

From reading both Hawthorne and Emerson, the reader could conjecture that being open is important in theory and practice. Emerson talks about the reasons why being open is beneficial and life-changing for the individual in relation to experiencing the natural world while Hawthorne uses Hester to show that being open to all possibilities outside the box that society fits in is a way for an individual to further explore and define themselves and their relationships to others. To be open, in any sense, allows for growth and deeper understanding of the self and its relation to the outside world.

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