Transcendentalism Exposed In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne, born Nathaniel Hathorne, was an extraordinary American author. He was born on July Fourth, 1804, in Salem Massachusetts. Salem had a lot of influence on his writing because of his ancestors involvement in the Salem witch trials. His guilt from his ancestors involvement in the trials caused him to be a partial transcendentalist. Also,his introduction in the Scarlet Letter, the Custom house, openly talks about his problems about the city of Salem to a point where it upset some of the residents. Nonetheless, he based several of his books on places he lived in. Most of his novels took place in a Puritan society.Along with being an author, Hawthorne was also a US Consul under Franklin Pierce. After being moved to England, he
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The hypocrites, the sinners, the liars, the followers, or other any type of person he could have possibly wrote about. The Scarlet Letter was practically a slap in the face to Puritanism, and he wanted everyone to know. Hawthorne was “loose” transcendentalist, agreeing with some of the tenets but not all of them. He thought the idea to be too optimistic and even wrote a satirical novel on it. But one aspect of transcendentalism he agreed with is that the world is good, evil doesn't exist. Through his writing he displayed his belief that if you admit your sin, you can become good again. Hawthorne was searching to define humans, but not in the way people used to. Through his writing he was trying to convey that people are essentially good, but sometimes they are just weak. He wants everyone to acknowledge that people make mistakes, but if you admit your mistakes you can get better. He displayed this through two characters in the Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale. As I stated previously, it all boils back to conscience. Hester made a mistake and repented. She had to do something terrible in order to improve. In her case it was a little drastic because adultery is something that is sadly common these days. She got her punishment, made her life and her soul “pure” again. Dimmesdale, however, did not accept his crimes which made him a bad person. He did not improve until his dying words, when he finally admitted that he was also involved in the adultery.To Hawthorne, hypocrisy and secret sin were the things that God could condemn you for. His deeper truth, that everyone is good, but sometimes can be weak, ties back to his themes that are displayed in his novel. His deeper truth connected with me,but I don’t entirely agree with. I think that evil does exist, but I also think that everyone has the potential to improve, just like Hawthorne thought. But after reading about Hawthorne and Hester, I can see that there is
The hypocrites, the sinners, the liars, the followers, or other any type of person he could have possibly wrote about. The Scarlet Letter was practically a slap in the face to Puritanism, and he wanted everyone to know. Hawthorne was “loose” transcendentalist, agreeing with some of the tenets but not all of them. He thought the idea to be too optimistic and even wrote a satirical novel on it. But one aspect of transcendentalism he agreed with is that the world is good, evil doesn't exist. Through his writing he displayed his belief that if you admit your sin, you can become good again. Hawthorne was searching to define humans, but not in the way people used to. Through his writing he was trying to convey that people are essentially good, but sometimes they are just weak. He wants everyone to acknowledge that people make mistakes, but if you admit your mistakes you can get better. He displayed this through two characters in the Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale. As I stated previously, it all boils back to conscience. Hester made a mistake and repented. She had to do something terrible in order to improve. In her case it was a little drastic because adultery is something that is sadly common these days. She got her punishment, made her life and her soul “pure” again. Dimmesdale, however, did not accept his crimes which made him a bad person. He did not improve until his dying words, when he finally admitted that he was also involved in the adultery.To Hawthorne, hypocrisy and secret sin were the things that God could condemn you for. His deeper truth, that everyone is good, but sometimes can be weak, ties back to his themes that are displayed in his novel. His deeper truth connected with me,but I don’t entirely agree with. I think that evil does exist, but I also think that everyone has the potential to improve, just like Hawthorne thought. But after reading about Hawthorne and Hester, I can see that there is