Scarlet Macaw

Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites sees Agnes Magnúsdóttir condemned by her community for murder. As an educated, but socially lower-caste woman, Agnes is unable to escape her fate once the community view her as undeniably guilty. This inability to escape her fate, leads readers such as myself to consider the extent of which the stereotyping associated with gender is influential in determining one’s fate. However, it appears there is also the possibility of the individual changing their fate through…

What is life without risk? The two books The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, are both set during Puritan time establishments. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller do a remarkable job of illustrating what the typical Puritan society is like. In the two pieces, risk is a common theme in order to illustrate how Puritan society dealt with matters in contradiction to the religion. In the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne very early in the novel as “. . . perfect elegance…

In this novel Steinbeck strongly emphasizes on character analysis and symbolism. Throughout the entire book, he uses symbolism to express the characters as well as give the readers a better idea of the setting. Symbolism can be used for various topics in this book. Steinbeck also uses symbolism to describe the time period this novel takes place. This gives more depth to the characters and events taking place in the novel. This book takes place during the great depression therefore a lot of the…

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible contain crucial themes that build the backbone of their plots. “A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity” was once said by Baltasar Gracián, a Spanish writer, and could be applied to each book, as they show the importance, value, and power of a name or reputation. Although the main themes of reputation ring throughout the book, the motifs play just as critical of a role. For example, revenge and the…

How does Hawthorne use Dimmesdale's character to help emphasize the hypocrisy of the puritan society? Puritan society of the 1800s saw the world in black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale’s character, who is a minister in a puritan society, to highlight how this simplistic view of the world is full of hypocrisy. In a society that does not see people for the multiple dimensions they have, individuals are easily painted in…

conveys the theme of overcoming sin and shame by benevolent actions and deeds in The Scarlet Letter through the use of different symbols like the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the forest. Hester’s scarlet letter “A” starts off with being a symbol of sin, shame, and wrong doing but, by the end of the novel turned into a symbol of her identity that people came to respect. Pearl is like a living symbol of Hester’s scarlet letter where at first was the reason for all of Hester’s shame but, ended up…

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…

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 characters see her as an evil devil child and Hester also sees this…

The question of whether Hester Prynne’s character develops over the course of The Scarlet Letter is debatable. To the Puritans living in her community, Hester drastically changes from a sinful adulteress to a charitable and selfless seamstress. True to their cold and unforgiving nature, the Puritans disregard Hester’s emotional development and focus on the technical, concrete aspects of her transformation instead. The shallow Puritans see her as they want to see her without making an effort to…

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 also provided for those who are sinful. The main character, Hester Prynne, wears a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest as a…