For centuries, there has been evidence of defiance, disobedience, and questioning of authority. The world has seen the Civil Rights Movement, The Boston Tea Party, and labor strikes. Throughout this time, societies have also had to decide what authority meant to them. This could take the form of a ruler, a God, a president, or other forces. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a society where disobedience is a necessary and just response because of the Puritans’ blind devotion to religion and their cruelty leading to ruined relationships. The individuals within this society are bound together by a common obsession with their religion. One example would be the sexton, who found and delivered Dimmesdale’s glove from the scaffold
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In the case of Roger Chillingworth, he feels he had to change his entire identity because the society insisted Hester had to be publicly scolded. When Hester asks why he cannot expose himself as her husband, Chillingworth reveals he “‘...will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman’” (49). The shame brought to Hester has made her late husband desperate for a way to make Hester suffer more. The society has taught Roger to feel shame and be manipulative in his search for revenge. If this were not the case, then Hester and her unnamed husband could find a more civilized way to make amends. The society’s cruelty has also tried to make Hester appear unfit to be a single mother. This accusation forced her to say: “‘God gave her into my keeping,’ repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. ‘I will not give her up!’” (109). The churchmen and the society expect Hester to make the decision to give up her child. Of course, it is in her right to refuse. With that, Hester should not have to feel ashamed in her child or in her decision to keep her. She cannot trust the people who have previously shamed her to take care of her daughter. The best way for the characters to react to this cruelty should be to disobey those who feel they should dictate their
In the case of Roger Chillingworth, he feels he had to change his entire identity because the society insisted Hester had to be publicly scolded. When Hester asks why he cannot expose himself as her husband, Chillingworth reveals he “‘...will not encounter the dishonor that besmirches the husband of a faithless woman’” (49). The shame brought to Hester has made her late husband desperate for a way to make Hester suffer more. The society has taught Roger to feel shame and be manipulative in his search for revenge. If this were not the case, then Hester and her unnamed husband could find a more civilized way to make amends. The society’s cruelty has also tried to make Hester appear unfit to be a single mother. This accusation forced her to say: “‘God gave her into my keeping,’ repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. ‘I will not give her up!’” (109). The churchmen and the society expect Hester to make the decision to give up her child. Of course, it is in her right to refuse. With that, Hester should not have to feel ashamed in her child or in her decision to keep her. She cannot trust the people who have previously shamed her to take care of her daughter. The best way for the characters to react to this cruelty should be to disobey those who feel they should dictate their