Hawthorne’s intentional uniting of Reverend John Wilson, Hester, and Reverend Dimmesdale requires the reader to consider what power and force does to unite certain characters that creates themes and conflicts in the novel. Power can take shape in many forms. It can be with legitimate, informational, or expert power. With these examples being just some of the ways someone can hold power over others, it truly shows how much power can affect the themes of novels. Also, throughout the novel, there is multiple instances where force is shown in the text. Force can form pairing, and like the instance we wish to resolve, also triads form when force is present.
Reverend John Wilson is the first part of the triad. …show more content…
In this section of the novel Hester does not have much power. She is alone with the infant on the scaffold being ridiculed for her sin. In this particular triad, Hester Prynne is seems to be the ‘outcast’ of the group because of the similarities between Reverend John Wilson and Reverend Dimmesdale. Although Reverend Dimmesdale is the actual father of Pearl he force Hester to keep her mouth shut which leads to the main conflict of the novel. Since Hester has no power in this particular situation she can’t have much force, rather she is a victim of the force from the other two in the …show more content…
With force and power imbalances it creates the conflict between these characters that carries through the novel. The conflict of Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale over the sin of adultery and Hester being on the scaffold being ridiculed by the Puritan community for her sin. Reverend John Wilson using his power to get Hester to relinquish the name of her fellow sinner, which is an ironic statement considering he is atop the balcony with him. Simply stated, conflict between characters in this triad make the novel's themes come to light forming this most crucial triad to the