The Scarlet Letter, written in 1850, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, functions as a critique of organized religion. Karl Marx states "the question of God’s existence is not the fundamental issue for Marxist analysis; rather, what human beings do in God’s name organized religion is the focus" (Tyson 76). Also, in the text, religion functioned to keep characters from resisting socioeconomic oppression along with other types. In chapter 1, The Scarlet Letter functions as a critique of organized religion, because a beautiful rose bush blossomed “on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold" of the prison and it could be thought to “offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in” (Hawthorne 39). This "fragrance" and "beauty" offered by the rose bush reflects nature's attitude towards the condemned individuals, as it offered kindness and pity to them. However, nature disapproved of the Puritan community and their actions because the dark imagery characterized their people wore "sad-coloured garments",
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Puritan children wanted to “fling mud at them” when they were on their way to the governors house, as a result of Hester's sin (Hawthorne 78). This religious oppression is also shown once she arrives at the governor's house with the intention to plead to keep her daughter Pearl. She successfully persuades the Puritan leaders to allow Pearl to remain in her custody, but it only “reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 78).
Throughout the text, the Puritans describe "poor little Pearl" as "a demon offspring” since many of the New England Puritans believed that some children were sent to the earth through their mothers sin to promote an evil purpose (Hawthorne 77). This revealed that the oppression that Pearl suffered from religion because the sins her mother committed significantly affect her
Puritan children wanted to “fling mud at them” when they were on their way to the governors house, as a result of Hester's sin (Hawthorne 78). This religious oppression is also shown once she arrives at the governor's house with the intention to plead to keep her daughter Pearl. She successfully persuades the Puritan leaders to allow Pearl to remain in her custody, but it only “reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 78).
Throughout the text, the Puritans describe "poor little Pearl" as "a demon offspring” since many of the New England Puritans believed that some children were sent to the earth through their mothers sin to promote an evil purpose (Hawthorne 77). This revealed that the oppression that Pearl suffered from religion because the sins her mother committed significantly affect her