Morality

Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, very strong examples of puritan societies are portrayed.  Both are set in the 1600’s, where society was very harsh, with a strict way of living. Society believed there always had to be a punishment for intolerable acts. There was also superiority and inequality. As a society today, we strive to become stronger, and a more just group, but are we really?  Society has not changed, we are no better or worse . We still believe in punishment and do not have equality throughout the world.

In The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans always believed in punishment. If someone has committed a crime, they must be punished. While Hester is standing on the scaffold for her sin of adultery, a quote says “The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch,—that is a truth,” added a third autumnal matron. “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she,—the naughty baggage,—little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown! Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or such like heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!” (Hawthorne 61). The community feels they must punish Hester for her actions. When they say ‘At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead,’ they are saying now they have to punish her in someway. Today, we are faced with a new terrorist group called ISIS.  During a Presidential Debate,  Donald Trump said “You know when we have a world where you have Isis chopping off heads where you have them frankly drowning people in steel cages you have so many bad things happening this is like Medieval Times we haven’t seen anything like this.” Trump is saying how all these killings are occurring, and we are not doing anything to prevent them. When he says ‘this is like Medieval Time’, he is referring to how society has not changed and is just as brutal and unjust  as it was in  the 1600’s. We are still killing and punishing people but for what cause?  It is  the twenty first century, are we really any more advanced as a society?

In today’s society, parents tend to let their children find their true self and live their own life. In the 1600’s Hester also allows Pearl to be who she wants to be. Pearl starts making fun of her mother for her letter A. She says  “Pearl took some eelgrass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s (Hawthorne, 147)”Hester does not stop her, she lets her do what she wants to do. She is letting Pearl live her own live and find her true self. In today’s society, an article about a mother said “Even if he said, ‘I want to die’, I’d support him,” she explained. “I didn’t put my children in the world for me. It’s their life and their death. The best parents are the ones who let their children go. (The Child Killers, Elizabeth).” She is saying how you have to let the children become who they really are. Often times parents see themselves in their children and try to steer them into being what they want them to be. By letting the child make their own decisions, they are allowing them to have control over their life.

In the 1600’s, men were superior to women, they did not have a voice. Today, women and men are equal in theory however, some people would beg to differ claiming women are still a minority.  In The Crucible,  John Proctor says “It is a fault, it is a fault, Elizabeth—you’re the mistress here, not Mary Warren.(Miller)” He is saying how he is the “man of the house,” he treats Elizabeth as a servant to him. Hillary Clinton said “If a country doesn’t recognize minority rights and human rights, including women’s rights, you will not have the kind of stability and prosperity that is possible.” This demonstrates how women are still considered a minority by some. She is admitting how we have a problem in he world and how we need to find a solution. We have not had equality for over 500 years, it it time for change.     

Often times, we as a society can get distracted , and lose focus on what is truly important. In a song titled A Little More  by the rapper MGK he says “Cause it feels like the government just as crooked as the police I spent the weekend catchin’ up on the news a girl committed suicide after she was bullied at school Cause some dudes told her she wasn’t cool But you would rather gossip about a famous person breaking the rules.” He is saying how we are not focusing on what is truly important in this world. This example shows how when a young girl takes her own life, we would rather focus on a celebrity. In The Crucible, they get so caught up in the Witch Trials and do not even realize how unjust and ridiculous this  truly was. In the introduction of the poem,the author says how two dogs were committed as witches. This demonstrated  how ridiculous they were and how they became carried away with their actions. Another example of today’s society was when President Barack Obama was running for president, some people have said that they voted for him only because they wanted an African American President. “But now, less than a year later, we address the question of race from a far different perspective. We wonder if Obama’s election and subsequent events has merely unveiled the same old racism that has always been there–now revealed and amplified in the public square. Are the current trials of the president based largely on the fact that he is an African American? (National Catholic Reporter, 2009)”  In this article, The question is raised that people may of voted for Obama just to have an African American President, not because of  his platform. We get so caught up in the small, non important mutiple details we forget the big picture.

During Puritan Society, it was  not a just, superb society, nor is it today. We have not changed, we are the same cruel, harsh society as the 1600’s. We still believe in these unnecessary punishments. It is time to move on from this unjust society  and become stronger and kinder, and it starts with us. We can be the change we need to make this society great.

Resources

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 Ticknor, Reed & Fields United States

The Crucible by Arthur Miller 1950 New York City

Smith, C. Fraser. “The race issue today: no post-racial society yet, but if we keep talking, we keep moving forward.” National Catholic Reporter, 27 Nov. 2009, p. 16+. U.S. History In Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=heb76203&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA214203768&it=r&asid=8027f4236bb06e5f59c38949be863dfb. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.

Braw, Elisabeth. “The Child Killers.” Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2013, p. 1. U.S. History In Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=heb76203&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA351919291&it=r&asid=3210ff604a620c6e9a512c9c7724f9bb. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.

Staff, POLITICO. “Full transcript: Third 2016 presidential debate.” POLITICO. N.p., 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 May 2017.

“Machine Gun Kelly (Ft. Victoria Monét) – A Little More.” Genius. N.p., 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 May 2017.