However, Rousseau’s concept of “general will” allows man a method for living within a social organization while maintaining his freedom. If each individual in the society comprehends that they should hold general will, or the communal interests, above the inclinations of the singular member, then the society can be free, according to Rousseau’s thinking. Obviously, there are numerous goals that the Puritan community in The Scarlet Letter desires to work towards, but it is also evident that each individual member of this community has their own private desires that they prioritize above those of the community. The inhabitants of Boston in 1642 are not free--those in power, and the rules that strictly govern each citizen, imprison them. Even in death, Hester is not free from the oppressive power of the Puritan community. In the last chapter, the narrator reveals the epitaph inscribed upon Hester’s gravestone--“On a field, sable, the letter A, gules,” (150). Instead of a dignified or personal message, the community marks Hester’s grave with the scarlet letter, and heirs of the Puritans who prosecuted Hester will remember her only as the wearer of the letter. Then, in
However, Rousseau’s concept of “general will” allows man a method for living within a social organization while maintaining his freedom. If each individual in the society comprehends that they should hold general will, or the communal interests, above the inclinations of the singular member, then the society can be free, according to Rousseau’s thinking. Obviously, there are numerous goals that the Puritan community in The Scarlet Letter desires to work towards, but it is also evident that each individual member of this community has their own private desires that they prioritize above those of the community. The inhabitants of Boston in 1642 are not free--those in power, and the rules that strictly govern each citizen, imprison them. Even in death, Hester is not free from the oppressive power of the Puritan community. In the last chapter, the narrator reveals the epitaph inscribed upon Hester’s gravestone--“On a field, sable, the letter A, gules,” (150). Instead of a dignified or personal message, the community marks Hester’s grave with the scarlet letter, and heirs of the Puritans who prosecuted Hester will remember her only as the wearer of the letter. Then, in