Nathaniel Branden

Good Always Overpowers Evil “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good” (Brainy Quotes). In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman who is accused of committing adultery, and to eternally remind her of her sin she has to wear a scarlet letter on her bosom and gives birth to her daughter Pearl, who was the product of her affair. Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister of the town, and Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s secret husband, are…

The Worst Possible Case: Puritans and the Day of Judgement Well into an assured future for the colonists of America, the Great Awakening began around the same time Michael Wigglesworth was born. The revival of religion continued as America’s first best seller, published by Wigglesworth in 1662, a long poem called The Day of Doom. The Day of Doom clearly incorporates the Puritan ideal of self scrutiny, one of the most fundamentally important aspects of their society . This poem depicts the…

The author begins by using figurative language employed by Dale Chihuly to describe his collection of artistic products. Willard argues that he never knew that he was a blanket collector he opened the book entitled Chihuly's Pendletons and Their Influences on His Work. Chihuly’s Pendleton is an exciting text that provides an elaborate exposition of his career as a pre-eminent artist in the United States. His flamboyant and contorted glassworks are a unique and conspicuous trademark displayed…

When one’s faith is tested the effects it has on the individual can ruin a person's view of humanity and life in general. In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a pious man named Goodman Brown whose faith is a large attribute of his character. Brown’s faith is put to the ultimate test when he had a dream that seemed so unimaginably real. Young Goodman Brown soon begins to doubt everything he knows about his faith. Brown comes to a realization that humanity is…

"It was meant for a blessing; for the one blessing of her life! It was meant, doubtless, as the mother herself hath told us, for a retribution too; a torture, to be felt at many an unthought of moment." This quote that was made in chapter eight of the Scarlet Letter was stated by Arthur Dimmesdale to the governor to allow Hester Prynne keep her daughter, Pearl. Throughout the Scarlet Letter we see the relationship between Hester and Pearl and also some thoughts about how others view Pearl. Most…

Sin and guilt are two recurring themes not only found in The Minister’s Black Veil, but are also recurring themes found in many works by Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter is one of Hawthorne’s most famous writings and it is closely related to the theme of sin, specifically sin in secrecy, as proven to be true in Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil. The Scarlet Letter is also based during the Puritan time period therefore, sin is something that mostly all individuals frown upon and punishment is…

changed due to countless people looking down on you; You are trapped in an overwhelming unpoppable bubble surrounded by others who point, poke and mock you for past mistakes. Hester Prynne experiences this shame in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by; Nathaniel Hawthorne. Protagonist, Hester, is an independent single mother who finds a way to support her daughter in a time of hardship. Hester also fights to transform the meaning of her punishment by questioning the hypocritical morals of her…

The two short stories I chose to compare are “The Rocking Horse Winner” and “Young Goodman Brown”. “The Rocking Horse Winner” was written by D.H. Lawrence and “Young Goodman Brown” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In “The Rocking Horse Winner” the main conflict of the story is that Paul’s and his parents are struggling mightily with their economic situation. The story is about a family that consists of a father and mother, a son named Paul and his two sisters. Paul is always curious about…

Journal Entry 1 The Scarlet Letter: Topic and Description and Detail, Chapters 1-6 In my personal opinion, the first six chapters of the book are a little too obvious. I think that the author put too much detail into the story leaving little room for guessing at what will happen in the future. The first chapter contained little substance but large amounts of detail hinting that Puritan society had imprisoned someone socially and literally. In the second chapter, we learn of a woman Hester…

The Mysterious Being! The first chapter of “The Scarlet Letter” sets in motion the rest of the story in a few aspects including; the setting, an imagined world, and hidden in the text, is Mother Nature. Something that one may overlook throughout simple daily life is the gift, protection, and unforgiveable powers of nature. However, when the society of man dishes out a harsh, unwanted fate to someone while turning their back in disappointment, such as the Puritan Society did to Hester Prynne,…