Scarlet

D.H. Lawrence writes to expose the malicious side of Hester Prynne in his critical essay, “On The Scarlet Letter”. With his unique style of writing, Lawrence criticizes the way Hawthorne victimizes Hester, creating the facade that is her character. To convey his reasoning, he provides context and analysis of her disgraceful character throughout the novel. Lawrence uses sarcastic tone, biblical allusions, and choppy and repetitive syntax to prove that Hester Prynne is not a heroine in The Scarlet Letter. Lawrence presents a sarcastic tone to prove that Hester is not as heroic as Hawthorne describes. For example, while writing that Hester’s sin should not be overlooked, he mentions that the greatest “triumph a woman can have, especially an American woman, is the triumph of seducing man: especially if he is pure” (Lawrence). In this way, he believes Hester is a bad example for American women. She is the one who wrongfully entices Dimmesdale, even though she is still married. However, Hawthorne sees Hester’s sin as…

“I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life, and death.” In this classic short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” the author James Hurst illustrates how pride is beneficial in certain ways and detrimental in other ways. Pride defined, as the trait of persuasion by a dislike of falling below your standards is the theme of the short story. The Narrator consumed by pride, ideology for helping Doodle is only for his own benefit. The author's usage of…

In the “Scarlet Letter” novel, the plot takes place in an early New England colony, mid-17th century at Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the best called name for the Puritan community of Boston in which is also part of the setting. The author Nathaniel Hawthorne mentions many settings in the novel, including the wilderness, custom-house, prison door and the town scaffold. The town scaffold is the place that sets off the novel’s beginning, middle, and end. It’s also…

The scarlet ibis serves as an appropriate symbol in the story The Scarlet Ibis because it symbolises Doodle’s death. When Doodle was born he wasn't expected to live so his parents gave him the name William Armstrong for his tombstone. The author refers to that name as a “big tail on a small kite” (316). It can be compared to the Ibis because since the Ibis does not have a big tail the name Doodle’s parents gave him changed to Doodle. When doodle and his family saw the bird on their bleeding…

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst tells a story of two brothers, Brother and Doodle. Brother is narrating the tale from an adult perspective. Doodle’s life is very difficult, everyone thought he was going to perish; he pulled through because of love with a small twist of wickedness. Furthermore, Brother only wants to help Doodle to correspond with other children because he wants to avoid embarrassment of having a younger brother who cannot walk, this is only a battle with his self worth. As the…

The Scarlet Ibis In The Scarlet Ibis, James Hurst uses the scarlet ibis, the coffin, and the color red, as symbols to to help understand different ideas that are a little harder to comprehend on your own. In The Scarlet Ibis, the narrator tells a flashback story of him and his brother at young age. In the story the narrator talks about how he tried to make his physically handicapped brother be normal like him. A symbol is anything that stands for or represents something else. The…

this short story Doodle is symbolized by the Scarlet Ibis, in more ways than one. Another piece of symbolism Hurst uses is the color red. James Hurst uses symbolism to make “The Scarlet Ibis” more interesting. The largest symbol in “The Scarlet Ibis” is the Scarlet Ibis, and how it represents the way Doodle is out of place. Hurst writes, “"It's a scarlet ibis," he said, pointing to the picture. "It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here."”(602).…

As a stark contrast to today’s culture having a scant amount of repercussions, the Puritans had considerably more numerous disciplinary actions that were noticeably harsher. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is heavily centered on how the Puritan people face guilt and sin in ways their religion and culture allowed. As the plot develops, the four main characters-Hester Prynne, Pearl Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingsworth- reach individual development by dealing with the…

Symbolism of The Scarlet Letter “A” “On a field, sable, the letter A, gules” (Hawthorne 259). The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story of a woman named Hester Prynne who overcomes the pestering punishment of wearing the scarlet “A”. This letter is given to her by the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester changes the symbolic meaning of the letter “A” from her sin of “adultery,” to being an “able” woman, to gracious, ultimately defining her own…

The scarlet letter is supposed to be a symbol of dishonor; however, Hester Prynne turns the meaning around, and it becomes a symbol to distinguish her. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter shows that one should not flee from sin but should take it on directly. Puritans came to the New World to change the rules; however, committing adultery was not one of them and is still looked at as a terrible sin. Adultery is the sin of being unfaithful and cheating on one’s partner. Even though Hester is…