Fear In The Scarlet Letter

Although the causation of fear changed from the 1600s to 1850, the conceptual understanding of fear itself had not changed. This can be observed in the texts The Scarlet Letter, A narrative of Frederick Douglass, and Civil Disobedience which take place or were published in the mid 1600s, mid 1700s, and the mid 1800s. All the literary works mentioned show or express some type of fear that influences the actions of society. And yet the cause of this fear is different for each book corresponding to a different time period, they all maintain the same basic understanding of fear.
In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the puritans constantly fear of their society being corrupted. This led them to do extremes that had enforced inequalities. For instance, if someone had committed a crime, according to Puritan Society, they would either be banished or punished. This was the case with Hester Prynne, who had committed adultery with reverend Dimmesdale. After her child, Pearl, was born, Hester was convicted of Adultery and forced to wear the letter A. Her society of Puritans were so afraid of their strict social normalities being broken that they had constantly …show more content…
This is since the slave masters constantly fear of the slaves becoming independent throughout the story. For instance, Mr. Gore shoots demby with no remorse when he refuses to come out of the water. Mr. Gore, the overseer, does this to prevent the slaves from getting any rebellious ideas or influence. Similarly, Mr. Auld tries to stop Frederick’s education to prevent him from gaining any abilities that slaves don’t normally have such as reading and writing. This is due to the fact that Mr. Auld fears that slaves will use these to realize that they can achieve much more in life, and, like the plantation owners & overseers, he fears they will