霍桑《红字》书评 Book review of the Scarlet Letter

Book review of the Scarlet Letter

This is the story of a young woman who fall in love with a young man in Colonial America. They find each other irresistible and concieve a child out of wedlock. In the Puritan world of early America this is a heinous crime and for this, Hester Prine the central character of the novel, is severely punished. With a battered heart she is forced out of town. In the forest where she now finds herself, she finds great comfort from the beauty that surrounds her and fulfillment in her beautiful young child. The townspeople still want her to answer the question she will not answer, who is the child's father, as he must bear the responsibility and the punishment he deserves. But Hester will not tell. Who is this golden child's daddy?

Hester, however, will not reveal the identity of her lover, and is content to bare the shame of the scarlet letter on her own. When Mr. Prynne, soon-to-be-known as Roger Chillingworth, arrives, he begins a careful mind game to unravel the identity of Hester's lover, or at the very least, make him snap. Hester ends up being a woman of great principle and quiet purpose. She accepts her sin as dictated to her by society and continues her life waiting for it to wear off. She believes she deserves it. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, never confesses and allows himself to be tormented by Chillingworth. Dimmesdale's lies lead to his downfall, and Chillingworth never gets his young wife. It is only Pearl who grows into a glorious being and settles into a fine life back in the old world, living off Roger Chillingworth's money.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's background influenced him to write the bold novel The Scarlet Letter. One important influence on the story is money. Hawthorne had never made much money as an author and the birth of his first daughter added to the financial burden. He received a job at the Salem Custom House only to lose it three years later and be forced to write again to support his family. Consequently, The Scarlet Letter was published a year later. It was only intended to be a long short story, but the extra money a novel would bring in was needed. Hawthorne then wrote an introduction section titled "The Custom House" to extend the length of the book and The Scarlet Letter became a full novel.

In addition to financial worries, another influence on the story is Hawthorne's rejection of his ancestors. His forefathers were strict Puritans, and John Hathorne, his great-great-grandfather, was a judge presiding during the Salem witch trials. Hawthorne did not condone their acts and actually spent a great deal of his life renouncing the Puritans in general.

Similarly, the Scarlet Letter was a literal "soapbox" for Hawthorne to convey to the world that the majority of Puritans were strict and unfeeling. For example, before Hester emerges from the prison she is being scorned by a group of women who feel that she deserves a larger punishment than she actually receives. Instead of only being made to stand on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest, they suggest that she have it branded on her forehead or even be put to death. Perhaps the most important influence on the story is the author's interest in the "dark side".

Unlike the transcendentalists of the era, Hawthorne "confronted reality, rather than evading it".