Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

The Irony of the Letter ?A?

In the book ?The Scarlet Letter? there is plenty of irony. Irony is real important in any book. It?s one of the main components which makes a book come to life. If there was not irony the complexity of a book would not be the same it would be very dull. The Scarlet Letter is a book of human frailty and I think complex irony. Irony to me is what makes the book great. In this paper I will make 3 points of irony in this book.

One example of irony in this book is the way that Hester is punished. Its ironic to me how Hester does not tell anyone of her lover, who is Dimmsdale. Dimmsdale is a preacher who is well liked by the community. If I would have been Hester going through all that punishment I would have told who the father was in a heartbeat. But its ironic how she doesn?t tell, I guess it was because she loved Dimmsdale and didn?t want to make him go through what she had gone through. The torture that Hester went through was amazing standing on the pedestal, being mocked everyday, having a big ?A? on your chest. I don?t see how she didn?t break and tell.

Another example of irony in this book is Dimmsdale. Dimmsdale is a noble yet confused character. He is the perfect man in the community?s eyes but in his eyes he is a sinful man. The irony is that the whole time he stands up in the church and tells the congregation how they need to confess their sins. Confess, I am sure they did but the ironic thing is that Dimmsdale did not. He would stand in front of the congregation and beat himself, the congregation never knew why. For Dimmsdale could not face the fact that if he told he would loose his job, be punished and any other factors of punishment they had during that time. The not confessing of his sins I think is what will cause his decline and turmoil.

Another example of irony is Chillingsworth. Chillingsworth is a weird and ugly man. He is a doctor in the Boston community. The ironic thing about him is that no one except Hester knows that he is Hesters husband. Though husband and wife they do not live together. Chillingsworth lives with Dimmsdale. Chillingsworth finds that something is wrong with Dimmsdale. The diagnosis is sickness of the spirit Dimmsdale declares. One night Dimmsdale is sleeping loudly and out of breath. Chillingsworth wanted to discover what was wrong. He finds something on Dimmsdale?s body. This is where Chillingsworth has an inner change. This is dramatic irony. For Chillingsworth then knew who the father of Pearl was.

In this great book by Hawthorne there is irony everywhere. The irony is what makes the book come to life I think. Irony is a great thing to have in reading if you did not have irony you would not have complete reading. This book is a great book it shows how fragile any person can be. It challenges us to confess our sins to other people and to God rather than keeping them quiet and suffer.