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Isolation In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

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Isolation In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'
Sohrab Hussain

Reg. No.- 2009236058

Md Mizanur Rahman

American Fiction ENG_412

25 August 2013

Dramatization of Isolation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s `The Scarlet Letter’

Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter emphasizes the theme of isolation throughout the whole novel. Using a variety of literary techniques and descriptions of emotions and nature, Hawthorne is able to fully depict the inner feelings of hurt suffered by the central characters as a result of severe loneliness and seclusion. The torturous of isolation, are experienced by the key figures, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, each due to different situations and to various degrees. These characters undergo a journey, which separates
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Not only is he physically separated from his companion, Hester, and the townspeople, who suspect evil intervention, but is also mentally detached from himself. To exhibit this transformation, Hawthorne expresses the character of Roger Chillingworth primarily through private contemplation; Chillingworth exposes his true self only through his thoughts. With exception to Hester, Chillingworth speaks to no other person about his plans or motives. Following his vow to uncover Hester 's secret lover, Chillingworth slowly begins to lose his true identity to the devil. Such pure wickedness causes Chillingworth to eventually withdraw from his prior life and isolate himself to live in a world, which through his eyes, only contains bitterness and …show more content…
This separation provides a new perspective on the group they were once a part of that causes the fallen to renounce the beliefs and practices of their contemporaries. As they distance themselves from the world, these characters cast off the shackles created by the influence of other’s people’s thoughts and ideologies. Release from these constraints allows them to look critically at the society they have left behind and form their own opinions of where life should lead, rather than accepting the roles that others have placed upon

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