Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a great American writer in his time. He saw problems in the government and the ways people lived their lives that were beyond his years. The Scarlet Letter was one of his greatest literary works, telling the story of a young woman plagued by a simple misdeed and shunned by all that she knew. He wrote this novel to try and show everyone at the time just how antiquated their ideas were and that it was time for a change in society. The Scarlet Letter was written with the purpose of mocking the strict practice of theocracy and how the church was basically controlling the government and how if the church didn?t agree with something, the whole town could be manipulated to think the same way. He represented this in his book by showing how a once respected member of the community, Hester, became an outcast for life after making a simple judgement error. I am very grateful that things today are different and knowing that if I mess up in life, I can always pick up the pieces and count on my friends to be there for me. Back then, if you didn?t follow the rules exactly, you had a dark cloud hanging over you for the rest of your life. All of your friends would turn on you and make your life miserable, there weren?t any true loyalties, and you couldn?t really trust anyone.

The Scarlet Letter took place in Boston, Massachusetts in the late eighteenth century. The United States was still greatly influenced by England and under a strict theocratic government. The author had many messages he wanted to get across in this book. He didn?t agree with theocracy and didn?t like the way members of the clergy were treated as if they could do no wrong and other members of society were all doomed to go to Hell for the slightest mishap. This book broke the mold by showing a minister who had done wrong, and how he would be punished for it, just the same as any other person. It went through how he was tortured inside, even though the community was oblivious to the fact that he was Pearl?s father, he knew it and he also knew that God knew it and that at some point he would have to pay for his sins. The book was a mockery of his hypocrisy, how he condemned Hester for what she had done and cursed the father of the child for not stepping forward even though he knew in his heart the baby was his. He had committed the same crime as Hester, and yet she was the only one punished for it. He stood there in front of the whole town and said awful things about her and sentenced her to a life of grief all the while knowing he was just as guilty as she was.