Honors American Literature (B)

In the book of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, it is shown that the Puritans were blinded by their religions and their beliefs. The Puritans had prejudice against other races. They were racists and extremely religious, but could they be compared to today? Is morality better than years ago? Long time ago they had a different education system than nowadays; morality and racism now seem more extreme than years ago. The laws had changed, too, for it to be equal to everyone no matter the race, sexuality, or beliefs. Puritans used to have slaves and saw slaves as something normal. It is true that slavery still exists, but it is not as common as it used to be, and now it is illegal, not like years ago. Puritans were morally educated by their religion, the laws were not morally correct, and even saw slaves as something morally correct. Puritans were strict with their religious beliefs and would not tolerate any insult to their God. 

The morality of the Puritans was based in their Bible. The Puritans were a group of religious separatists that came to New England in the 17th century. They had to read the Bible and interpret what they thought of every verse. There was no one who tried to explain the Bible for them, and that could lead to misunderstanding of what it really meant. For example, the Puritans thought that the women were more easily tempted by the devil because Eve was influenced by the Devil in the Bible. The education at that time was not really morally correct as today, like for example Puritans saw black people inferior, leading to enslave them only because of their race. The Puritans had prejudices against people only because of their race, sexuality, or beliefs. For example, in the court in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Parris said to the judge that Proctor did not go to the church, “such a christian that will not come to church but once in a month!” (Miller 90). This had a negative response from Danforth to Proctor. The judge was influenced by his beliefs and immediately saw Proctor negatively just because of religion. Danforth has even allowed the minister to be his advisor.  Readers know this because it is described that Parris was close to the judge and constantly interfering in the court. Parris even went so near to peek at the letter that Proctor delivered to Danforth containing the ninety-one signatures stating that Elizabeth and the other women had never been seen of any type of witchcraft. This attitude of Danforth is the same for most of the Puritans. They behave differently to someone depending on whether they have the same beliefs or not and also someone of a different race,  by their sin, by their sexuality, or if they were females or males. It is a fact that in the 17th century sexisim was severe, and today we try to apply different teachings to the kids. Students are being taught equality, respect, and that we all are human beings. It does not make someone inferior just by their race, sexuality, or beliefs. Nowadays the laws are applied the same for everyone. Their morality was different as today, and now we consider sexism, racism, and any type of sexual phobia as something serious, something that was insignificant for the Puritans. The laws have changed compared to years ago. 

Puritans did not have morally correct laws. They lived under harsh rules. Their laws had exceptions to which could be applied. If you did not believe in God, your race was different, or you differ on your sexuality, most probably the law will not be the same, or you could even get hanged. The laws were made by the Puritans. Even the laws that they created were based on the scriptures, especially the Old Testament. Today the government worries that the same laws are applied to anyone. Humanity started to see that everyone is the same, and everyone should have the same chances like anyone, and it is thanks to the new morality education, as well that the laws are now more fair.

Puritans did not have morally correct laws, and they were not equal for every race, sexuality, or belief. In the book of Scarlet Letter, the harsh laws were implicated to the women like Hester, “With the same hard demeanour, she was led back to prison… It was whispered by those who peered after her that the scarlet letter threw a lurid gleam along the dark passage-way of the interior” (Hawthorne 49). She was led to prison and forced to wear a scarlet letter of her sin, adultery. It is insane that she received those consequences for something that is not a big deal today, but it used to be. The Puritans were not that free as it is today. Laws  even governed the way the Puritans dressed. Wearing lace was forbidden. The length and width of a lady’s sleeve was decided by law. A woman wearing an undershirt was called a shift. Over that, women had to wear a corset and long petticoats. This would be crazy today, women were oppressed to dress however they wanted. This was an obvious sexist act, but it was normal at that time since women had almost no rights. Neither for people of other races because of how Puritans were morally educated.

Slavery was looked morraly normal for the Puritans. How could it be compare today’s morality to the puritans when they even let slavery happen? They saw Africans as a lower race, it was common to sell people, or own people. They treated humans as tools. Puritans did not let slaves have any rights. Humans were seen as commodities only because of different skin. Tituba was described in The Crucible as, “Negro slave enters” (Hawthorne 8). It was seen normal to use the word Negro to describe someone and it was seen normal, too, to someone posses a slave. Today we forbid any type of slavery; however, it is true that there still, in fact slavery, but you are not anymore a slave because of race. Now it is a little more complex and there are more types of slavery. Like Domestic servitude, Sex trafficking,  forced labor, bonded labor, child labor, and forced marriage: “There are an estimated 21 million to 45 million people trapped in some form of slavery today. It’s sometimes called ‘Modern-Day Slavery’ and sometimes ‘Human Trafficking’, (“Slavery Today”). The number of people enslaved today is insane, it is something that sadly is occurring right now, and something that should be stopped; however at least slavery is something that is not morale correct today, and if you are accused of slave trading you would deal with serious consequences on the court. Slavery now is illigal, and people take seriously this topic. 

Today we are more moral than the puritans, it is true that racism, slavery, sexism, and law abuse still exist, but it has been reduced significantly over the years. Puritans were blinded by their religions and beliefs and now we respect everybody’s religion. We are able to choose what  we want to believe. Now it is time for us to learn from their errors and correct them. Do not do the same that they did. Become a greater person in today’s society. 

Work Cited 

“Slavery Today.”, End Slavery Today. Freedom Center, 2021. 5/11/2021.

http://www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today/domestic-servitude

Martin Cothran. “The Classical Education of the Puritans.” Memoria Press. Highland Latin Cottage School, Classical Latin School Association. April 1, 2011. Nov 5, 2021.

Meg English. “The Role of the Sermon in Puritan America.” Classroom. California State     University. September 29, 2017. Nov 5, 2021. 

https://classroom.synonym.com/the-role-of-the-sermon-in-puritan-america-12086082.html

Christine Leigh Heyrman. “Puritanism and Predestination.” Teacher Serve. Department of History, University of Delaware. January 2008. Nov 5, 2021.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/puritan.htm

Matthew Hutson. “Still Puritan After All These Years.” The New York Times. Aug. 3, 2012. Nov 5, 2021

Are we more moral today than in the puritan times? We are not more moral because how can we be more moral when we still have the deth penalty, innocent people getting accused, unpaid labor which is a crazy thing that they pay you less just because of who you are, child abuse, the suicide rate has increased by so much and most people don’t even care, and racism is still one of the biggest problems affecting our day to day lives in America.

We are still putting people on trial for the death sentence. The deth penalty is a crazy thing that still exists in today’s society since the Puritan times, a punishment that we have been using throughout history was deth, whether it was hanging someone, shooting them, or injecting them. This idea of people who think it’s okay to kill someone because they did something wrong is not okay, just because they did something wrong doesn’t mean a person doesn’t deserve a second chance, because people can change. “Oklahoma’s legacy of botched executions has continued to grow, as media witnesses to the October 28, 2021 execution of John Grant (pictured) reported that Grant suffered repeated convulsions and vomited over a nearly 15-minute period after he was administered the controversial execution drug midazolam. Grant’s execution was Oklahoma’s 113th since executions resumed in the United States in 1977 — tied with Virginia for the second most of any state during that period. It was also the state’s first execution since botching the executions of Clayton Lockett in April 2014 and Charles Warner in January 2015 and then aborting the execution of Richard Glossip in September 2015.”(Eyewitnesses Report John Grant Experienced Repeated ​‘Full-Body Convulsions’ and Vomited During Execution; Oklahoma Says Execution was Carried Out ​‘Without Complication ) 

This story is exactly what shows you they didn’t just kill this man they made him suffer and didn’t even care when if they gave this man a second chance he could have changed and become a better man, and they didn’t just do this in privet the showed it to the world as a good thing at that pint they dint just take his life they also took his dignity.

Innocent people getting accused, going on trial and having to do jail time. This issue we still have is accusing innocent people when they don’t even know it was that person, the evidence and proof don’t give us enough information to be sure that he is guilty or not, but so the police look good they arrest an innocent man or woman and put them on trial just because they may be the perpetrator. Whatever happened to “free until proven guilty” people are now getting sent to prison without the proof or evidence. “Outside of Jimmy Dennis’s house, on a quiet block, it was one of those perfect summer days. But Mr. Dennis preferred to stay inside, behind drawn shades, where there was little risk anyone would misinterpret what he was up to. Twenty-five years on death row can do that to a man. Since being arrested for a 1991 murder in Philadelphia, Mr. Dennis has maintained his alibi — that he was on a bus — and his innocence. But not until 2016 did a federal appeals court tell the state to start a new trial or release Mr. Dennis. Neither happened. Instead, prosecutors offered Mr. Dennis a deal: sign a plea of no contest to third-degree murder and he could leave prison instantly. If he declined, a new trial would most likely take years. The deal gave the city a potential out. Without an affirmative finding that he was innocent, the city would later argue, Mr. Dennis should not be able to bring a civil suit seeking payment for his years in prison.” (Clifford). He was sent to prison for 25 years, over two decades for something he didn’t even do, that is a lot of time. Imagine if this happened to you or someone close to you? it is a horrible thing especially when he had an alibi that they just dismissed at the end and didn’t care for it because they just needed to blame someone for it and move. How is this moral this traces back to the puritan times where they also accused innocent people and executed them or sent them to jail.

Unpaid labor is like slavery, even tho there is no more slavery-like there was before there is still slavery today and it’s done by abusing and not paying the employees and workers, it also happens to moms that stay home they work all day and don’t get paid. The way the unpaid labor is right in front of us but we see it as something normal is impressive even if you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there, moms work 24/7 every day cleaning the house and taking care of the children it can be very exhausting for them and they don’t get paid, they are working for free and even tho it sounds like yeah it’s their job, just think of you going to work and you are working so hard but at the end, you don’t get paid or appreciated. Women also get paid less for working the same jobs as men in most places they make less even if they work harder they will make less just because they are female.

“One of the ways women are routinely devalued in our society is by being expected to perform unpaid labor — work that, whether or not it’s traditionally defined as “work,” requires time and energy, yet yields no monetary compensation. While we often talk about how women make less money for the same work, we don’t always recognize that when we use a less narrow, stereotypically masculine definition of “work,” women are actually doing a lot of work that pays nothing. If we really want economic equality, we need to start compensating for the unpaid labor women do, stop making them do it, or at least expect men to do the same amount of it.

Why is unpaid labor a problem, though? Well, because not compensating people for their labor sends the message that their labor is worthless and because it puts women at an economic disadvantage. Which, by the way, they’re already at, since women make about 80 percent of what men do at best (for women of color, the figure is even lower) and pay higher prices for the same products.”(Bustle) This shows the way women get underpaid and underappreciated for what they do and how America makes it harder for them when they only make 80% of what a man makes in the same job this is not a moral system, which traces back to the Puritan times where they women were underappreciated and couldn’t make money all they did was clean, cook and take care of the kids. 

People abuse their children and make them work and or do other stuff and if they don’t comply they get hit the same with women and domestic violence. During the pandemic, a lot of nonmoral actions started to happen more and more, child abuse is one that skyrocketed when the pandemic started, since kids didn’t leave their houses anymore they couldn’t escape their abusers or get away from them because there were only online classes so they had to stay home all day. “Physical abuse of school-aged kids tripled during the early months of the pandemic when widespread stay-at-home orders were in effect, a new study finds exactly what triggered the surge is not fully understood, but other studies have also reported similar upticks in child abuse. A pediatrician who was not involved in the new research suspects COVID-19 and pandemic-related stresses created a “perfect storm” for abuse. “Stressful situations can be a trigger for poor judgment and impulsive reactions,” said Dr. Allison Jackson, division chief of the Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. “There was a great deal of economic stress, job insecurity, and loss of housing potential during this time frame along with the closing of schools, which can be a reprieve for parents and kids.” For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 39,000 children treated at nine pediatric trauma centers between March and September of last year. Of these, 2,064 were victims of suspected child abuse. Among children aged 5 and older, the number of child abuse victims tripled to 103, up from an average of 36 during a similar period before the pandemic, the study found. Researchers said a greater proportion of older children reported the abuse after stay-at-home orders went into effect last year.”(Mann) This is unbelievable child abuse tripled in a couple of months, it shows we are still using violence as the answer instead of something more moral more human-like taking their phone or video games not beating them up, and injuring them. 

The rate of suicides has gone up by so much since that time because the world is not moral it is filled with bad things. The thing that is the most impactful yet overlooked problem in our societies is suicide, a lot of people say yeah don’t do it but really they don’t care at all and do nothing at all, this is a way that people show that they are not moral they treat people like garbage like they are worthless, and think it’s okay if you knew how easy it is to be nice instead of a jerk because you never know what someone is going through a simple smile or a nice comment can change thated, and often low-cost interventions. For national responses to be effective, a comprehensive multisectoral suicide prevention strategy is needed.”(World Health Organisation) This is how unm. “Every year 703 000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities, and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind. Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds globally in 2019. Suicide does not just occur in high-income countries but is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world. In fact, over 77% of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2019. Suicide is a serious public health problem; however, suicides are preventable with timely, evidence-basoral. (Suicide) The world can treat a human so bad it makes you want to take your own life and it doesn’t help when other people are jerks because that comment they say or that actions they take can send you over the edge. How can we be moral when suicide is one of the largest causes of deth. This will not change until people start to care and start doing something about it.

The is so much racism towards a lot of different communities in the world and it shows how we are not more moral, the one that has hunted the world since the dawn of time is racism. Racism is the thing that has affected the world every single day without missing, it has made people suffer, treated like garbeg, that makes them feal worthless. Even if we don’t have slavery there is still racism every day and it will never stop until the racist learn that we are all the same and the ignorant open their eyes and see what is happening and do something about it. Throughout this country’s history, the hallmarks of American democracy – opportunity, freedom, and prosperity – have been largely reserved for white people through the intentional exclusion and oppression of people of color. The deep racial and ethnic inequities that exist today are a direct result of structural racism: the historical and contemporary policies, practices, and norms that create and maintain white supremacy. At the Urban Institute, we examine how structural racism continues to disproportionately segregate communities of color from access to opportunity and upward mobility by making it more difficult for people of color to secure quality education, jobs, housing, healthcare, and equal treatment in the criminal justice system. (Structural Racism in America)

In conclusion in the world today we are not more moral than we were in the Puritan times, we have progressed in some parts but we still have so much more to do before we become more moral, the world has its ups and downs but we are having more downs than ups in the last couple of years, and all problems can get fixed if we all come together and work together no matter where you are from or what you look like are all the same and until we realize that we will not be more moral. 

Work cited:

Clifford, Stephanie “Wrongly Convicted, They Had to Choose: Freedom or Restitution”, The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 March 2021

“ Eyewitnesses Report John Grant Experienced Repeated ​‘Full-Body Convulsions’ and Vomited During Execution; Oklahoma Says Execution was Carried Out ​‘Without Complication”, Deth Penalty Information Center, Deth Penalty Information Center, 29 October 2021

Mann, Denise,Study: Child Abuse Rose During COVID Pandemic,U.S News, U.S News, 8 October 2021

”Structural Racism in America”, Urban Institution, Urban institution

Weiss, Suzannah, 7 Forms Of Unpaid Labor Women Are Expected To Do All The Dang Time, Bustle, Bustle, 20 April 2017

“Suicide”, World Health Oganization, World Health Oganization, 17 June 2021

When I went on a vacation to Africa with my family we did a lot of amazing things and took a lot of amazing pictures, But the one that stood out the most was most definitely this one:   

This one stands out to me because it all started with me and my family waking up at 5:00am to go on a 45min road trip. My family was so tired but I was full of energy and really excited for my first ever time on a hot air balloon. 

When we got there they gave us some breakfast and coffee while the hot air balloon was filling up. I ate so much because of the excitement it felt like I could eat every single thing on earth and still be hungry.

At around 6:30 the air balloon was ready. I was pumped and ready to go, but before we could get on the hot air balloon we had to divide the family into two different groups. I wanted to go with my cousins because I thought they were cool but my mom wanted me to go with her and my dad, so I did the only reasonable thing that could be done, I flipped a coin, my dad called it in the air- he yelled HEADS!- but it landed on tails so I went with my cousins and my brothers. I was very nervous and excited at the same time. The crew member said- are you ready- I yelled WE ARE READY!- and all of a sudden the hot air balloon started moving up and it got higher and higher and higher. I started to get very nervous but luckily my brother calmed me down. I was scared to lean and look over the edge of the hot air balloon. My older cousin said- I will hold you don’t worry- so she grabbed me by the waist and I leaned over and saw the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen, I was astonished, my jaw dropped wide open. I could see zebras, giraffes, lions, rhinos, and more. When I saw the sun and the other hot air balloon in which my parents were I had to pull out my phone and take a picture it was amazing, to this day it is one of the proudest pictures that I have taken. It is easily one of the best experiences I have had in my entire life.

Whenever I need inspiration when I am down I go through my gallery of pictures and when I see this picture it reminds me of how good and how amazing things can be. This cheers me up and gets my head back up and ready to face the world. 

Well now that you know the story behind this picture, tell me what do you think about this picture? 

“Even though everyone thinks Pearl is a great gift and a sweet, cute, and caring little girl, don’t be fooled by her, Hester’s daughter is not a good girl. When thinking about her father, she believes she doesn’t have one and her religious thoughts given that the times were wrong, back then the Puritans were very religious and did not let pass a sin by like if it was nothing, being a sinner was very bad for them and they will shame you, exclude you and make you feel bad about what you did, so this was not a time to be saying that she has no God and doesn’t come from the heavenly father. Not only that but also her mother thinks she is out of control. She is a daughter of sin and was sent from the pits of Hell.”

Her whole life belongs to hope, she says that she has no heavenly father, she comes from hope. Her mother Hester is afraid of her she loves her because she is her daughter but she also doesn’t like her, Hester thinks she is annoying and her favorite time is when Pearl is asleep:” After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson’s question, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door.”(Hawthorne 100).  This goes to show us how she is not a human child, if one were to ask the same question to any other child they would have answered that the heavenly father made them if that is what they had been taught, but Pearl was not made by the having father she was made by Satan (devil).

Pearl is not a human child and is not a normal kid she has a lot of problems and causes a lot of trouble. She was not sent from the Heavenly Father because she has no heavenly father, as the narrator states:’’But, she said it with a hesitation that did not escape the acuteness of the child. Whether moved only by her ordinary freakishness or because an evil spirit prompted her, she put up her small forefinger and touched the scarlet letter. “He did not send me!” cried she, positively. “I have no Heavenly Father!”’’(Hawthorne 88). Here Pearl tells us that she does not have a heavenly father which means the one that sent her is satan (devil). This is another way to see that pearl is not a good child; she is a child of evil, a child of sin.

 Pearl is an uncontrollable demon child who is filled with bitterness, hatred, and aggressiveness which she uses against the Puritan kids, and has no hesitation to do so: “when Pearl saw, and gazed intently, but never sought to make an acquaintance. If spoken to, she would not speak again. If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations that made her mother tremble’’ (Hawthorne 84). Here Pearl is staring at the Puritan kids while she collects stones with one objective: to throw them at the puritan kids, you can see how evil she is a rock to the head can kill someone; the aggressiveness in her and the anger in pearl at such a young age shows how she is not human. Pearl has no control over her emotions; she will burst with rage and hatred, the pearl is the most intolerant brood in the world, she also let her emotions take the wheel and forgot to think before acting.

Hester could not handle Pearl anymore, Hester was exhausted and could not take it as too much work, she was frustrated at Pearl, but she finally found comfort when Pearl was sleeping and quiet, Hester felt peace for some time, until Pearl woke up. “Her only real comfort was when the child lay in the placidity of sleep. Then she was sure of her, and tasted hours of quiet, sad, delicious happiness; until perhaps with that perverse expression glimmering from beneath her opening lids-little Pearl awoke!” As the narrator shows Hester finds comfort when Pearl is unconscious because she is a little rascal that likes to cause trouble and torment her mother, she sucks out her energy and strains her mental health. 

In conclusion, even when the readers think the child is a gift, actually it isn’t, because she is filled with anger and hatred. Pearl declaring she was “plucked” by the rose bush, her mother’s disability to watch over her, and being sent to the world because of sin makes her evil. At such a young age, people should be filled with happiness and innocent thoughts, but Pearl is different because Satan sent her to Earth.

“There is no safer haven than a mother’s arm.” Although every mother should love their children, the relationship between Pearl and Hester in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone is extremely complicated. Pearl is without a doubt the most interesting and unpredictable character in the novel. Pearl often hurts Hester, sometimes even gets Hester in trouble, but many people ignore the fact that she is actually really helpful to Hester. Throughout the story, Pearl makes Hester a better person; she stands up for Hester, and Pearl also is the only reason Hester is still alive. 

The relationship between Hester and Pearl is what The Scarlet Letter’s story is focused on. Pearl brings a lot of pain to Hester without a doubt, but overlooking Pearl’s actions, she loves Hester.

Pearl is a really naughty and uncontrollable child, but that does not mean that she has a bad influence on Hester. In fact, it is just the opposite. Pearl is actually making Hester a better person. When Mistress Hibbins asked her to go into the forest and do witchcraft, Hester responded: “Make my excuse to him, so please you!” … “I must tarry at home, and keep water over my little Pearl. Had they taken Pearl from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with mine own blood!” (Hawthrone 105). If the governors took Pearl away from Hester, she would have gone to the forest and broken the law by doing witchcraft. That would lead to a terrible result as seen in the Salem Witch Trials. One of the main reasons the governors decided to leave Pearl with Hester is because Dimmesdale made the argument that she is like a leash to her. Pearl’s existence prevents Hester from doing whatever she wants; it makes Hester think about Pearl first. It also shows how much Pearl matters to Hester, she always puts Pearl in the first place. However, no matter how much Pearl means to Hester, she is still the child of sin.  

The purpose of the scarlet letter is to remind the sinners of their sin. Pearl is exactly just like a scarlet letter for Hester. When begging the governors for the guardianship of Pearl, Hester said: “Pearl Punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million fold the power of retribution for my sin?” (Hawthrone 101). Pearl is the result and the symbol of Hester’s sin. This might seem to be causing Hester a lot of pain, but it is actually constantly reminding Hester of her sin so that she does not sin again. The most important thing in Hester’s life is also the biggest sin of her life. It is almost impossible for Hester to sin again with Pearl beside her. Hester exaggerated the power of Pearl as the scarlet letter, just to explain to the judges that she should keep Pearl around with her. 

The process of making somebody a better person is necessary, but nonetheless painful. To support Hester, Pearl will also from time to time stand up for her mother in situations. On the way to the town hall, Pearl and Hester came across the Puritan kids. They were making fun of Hester because of the scarlet letter on her chest. Hester wanted to ignore it, “But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all to flight. She resembled, in her fierce pursuit of them, and an infant pestilence, – the scarlet fever, or some such half-fledged angel of judgment, whose mission was to punish the sins of the rising generation” (Hawthrone 92). Pearl was described as an angel, an angel to punish the new generation. This is the first time anyone has ever stood up for Hester since her trail. Hester has been seen by angry and disgusted eyes for years. She is very tired of the public shame that she receives every single day. Pearl, the child of sin, stands up for Hester on her own will. It takes a lot of courage for a child to fight against the public. That must have brought a bit of warmth to Hester and made her feel better about her relationship with Pearl which she has been struggling with. 

It is important that Pearl stands up for Hester, it is also important that Pearl keeps Hester away from sinning, but the most important effect of Pearl on Hester is that she is the only reason Hester is still alive. Once again, when Hester was on the court arguing with the judges to keep Pearl. She explains: “She is my happiness!- she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! … Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” (Hawthrone 101). The multiple exclamation marks make the readers feel Hester’s struggles, Hester’s need for Pearl, and Hester’s love for her own daughter. Pearl is so important to Hester that she would die if they took Pearl away from her. The world has been cruel to Hester. She had to live under the judging eyes of thousands everyday. Hester is sick of it, but the responsibility of motherhood keeps her here on earth everyday. It might not seem to be the best situation, but it is Hester’s only choice. Pearl makes her strong enough to take on the world and keep fighting. 

The relationship between Hester and Pearl is what The Scarlet Letter’s story is focused on. Pearl brings a lot of pain to Hester without a doubt, but overlooking Pearl’s actions, she loves Hester. Pearl’s existence made Hester a better person, Pearl’s actions made Hester feel supported, Pearl’s company is also Hester’s only reason to live in this world. Moreover, what mother does not value her child? A mother should always be the most important person for a child, the same goes the other way around. 

The novel Scarlet letter involves a few important objects that the entire story wraps around. For example: the scarlet letter itself. Although the scarlet letter initiated the story, what ties the entire structure of the story together is the platform in downtown Boston. Hawthorne used three scenes involving the platform in the novel. They are all really important to the development of the story and each one gets more exciting than the one before. 

“The platform structured the story perfectly, splitting the story into three parts. Introduction, development, and climax/ ending.”

The first scene where the platform was introduced is when Hester was standing on it when the people of Boston shamed her. It is the punishment for the sin Hester has committed and therefore she was the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. This scene serves as the grand introduction for all the main characters in the novel, and also laid the foundation for the story to unfold. Chillingworth was first introduced as a mysterious indian that was new to the town of Boston. “He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which as yet could hardly be termed aged. There was a remarkable intelligence that it could not fail to mould the physical to itself” (Hawthrone 54). Mysterious and intelligent, these are the first introduction to Chillingworth as he came to the crowd shaming Hester on the platform. Dimmesdale, of course, is a main character that drove the story forward. He was introduced after the speech of John Wilson. “A young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest-land. His eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession” (Hawthrone 59). The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale came into the story on a high point of a respected clergyman. However, as the readers do not know yet, he is also the father of Pearl. The young, loved, true to god clergyman is a sinner himself. This sets up a lot for later developments. Then, there is Hester. “So picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of  the image of Divine Maternity, which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent” (Hawthrone 50). This quote is the narrator describing Hester Prynne standing on top of the scaffold. There is a metaphor used to compare Hester to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This has to be one of the most clever metaphors. On one side, it is trying to describe the beauty of Hester; the other side, it is telling the readers that just like Jesus, Pearl is the child of sin. 

The second scene that happened on the platform is when Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl stood on top of it in the middle of the night. Dimmesdale snuck out of his house at night to go stand on the platform, hoping that he could face his guilt. He screamed in guilt and imagined that the townspeople were passing by and acknowledging the truth. Hester and Pearl came back from the deathbed of the old governor. Dimmesdale stopped them as they passed by and asked them to get up to the scaffold with him. “The minister felt for the child’s other hand, and took it. The movement that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, veins a sif the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system” (Hawthorne 138). When Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl all held hands, the author described it as if they had entered a new life. Two lovers and a child standing on a platform, it is almost like a wedding. The reunion of the family on the platform is extremely important to the story development. Pearl essentially would not accept Dimmesdale as long as he does not face his sin in public.As Chillingworth showed up, Dimmesdale starts to question Chillingworth’s identity, but Hester refuses to answer. This is when the story really starts building up to the climax. Dimmesdale only has a limited amount of time to live because of Chillingworth, but there are still so many problems to resolve. Will everything end up working out? If so, how? Those are the questions that the readers have burning in their brain. This is an important situation for Hester. At this moment when the family of three gathered together on the platform, all the other secrets between the main characters had been revealed. Even Though the public knew none of it, Chillingworth had already locked on his target; Pearl already knew her father; But Hester has been keeping the truth that Chillingworth is her husband. It is essential for Hester to tell Dimmesdale the truth to move forward through the story. 

The Last event involving the platform is the climax of the story. As Dimmesdale finished his glorious speech, he went up to the platform again. This time, he went up there with no fear and full determination. He called up Hester and Pearl. As they stood together on the scaffold in front of the whole town, He said: “Behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last ! — At last! — I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have  stood; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me, at this dreadful moment, from grovelling down upon my face” (Hawthorne 223). Dimmesdale finally revealed his sin. Through all those years, the sin, the pain and the guilt all gone at once. After facing the public as a sinner, Pearl accepted him and kissed him. The family is complete. After Dimmesdale finished what he wanted to do for seven years, his redemption was over and he died in Hester’s bosom. This scene is without a doubt the most important event in the story. It resulted in the death of Dimmesdale, which led to the death of Chillingworth; Pearl cried for the first time and broke the “spell” after Dimmesdale had kissed her; it also revealed the secret print on Dimmesdale’s chest to the crowd. Even though a few other things happened later on, this is the grand ending of the main story. 

The platform structured the story perfectly, splitting the story into three parts. Introduction, development, and climax/ ending. The three times all four of the main characters met at the platform, is actually the only three times the four of them had ever been together in one place. One place that ties everything together.

Morality defines humanity. What would humans be without their morals? Animals? Worse! Creatures need morals to live together in a system and evolve. Throughout human evolution, Puritanism has to be one of the most interesting understandings of human morality. It has been around 300 years since Puritanism reigned in America, and morals in modern society have improved significantly. Puritanism seemed to have a positive impact on the morals of people, but it is a whole other deal if people believed in other religions or were non religious. Puritans also let religion play a big part in social justice, which in many cases can be very corrupted. Modern society, on the other hand, does not let religion have too much of an effect on justice, resulting in a more open community where people have more freedom. Modern morality is also moving towards equality, which was left out during Puritan times. 

“Its legacy has passed down through time and will continue being a part of shaping American morale. No matter how great of an effect it has on modern morals, time has passed and people learn from history”

Religion is what Puritanism is built upon. There can not be a conversation about the Puritans without mentioning religion. Religion was like redemption for the people back then. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, main character Dimmesdale was a religious man who seeks redemption and forgiveness through religion. When Dimmesdale was standing on the platform  that his lover once stood on with their child, he was “defrauding the expectant audience of tomorrow’s prayer and sermon. No eye could see him, save that ever- wakeful one which had seen him in his closet, wiedlind the bloody scourge. Why then, had he come hither? Was it but the mockery of penitence? A mockery indeed, but in which his soul trifles with itself!” (Hawthorne 134). Hawthorne depicted a character who is in pain and can not forgive himself. Dimmesdale is filled with inner conflict, he can not find peace with himself so he chose religion to set himself free. The public loved him and worshiped him for this level of focus on his faith. The public liked to represent their religion, but if there were anyone who conflicts with their beliefs, it would be a very different outcome. In the famous play The Crucible, that is also set in the Puritan time period. The judge Danforth stated “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between” (Miller 94). This was said in the court of the Salem Witch Trial, one of the most controversial events that happened during Puritan times. People who were “with the court” are treated normally on the basics of that time, but he people that were “against it” were socially oppressed and would face time in jail, or even death. For example, Puritans were extremely against the Quakers. Puritan and Quakers both wanted to influence the northern colonies, but the Puritans negatively impacted the Quakers community massively while the Quakers did not really fight back. The Quakers believed in religious freedom, which is the future that Puritans will never see. 

Because of the religion’s effect on Puritans, the court at that time had a lot of religion involved. Even though religion does bring justice to some cases, for many more, religion is the factor that made innocent people go to jail or sentence to death. Having the court based on religion is extremely unfair in modern perspective. People would be decided guilty for what they did not do, and the only “proof” of their “sin” is religion related. Back to the Salem Witch Trial, instead of saying it is controversial, it is better to put it as: inmoral. Judge Danforth is a selfish judge that sentenced many women to death under the name of witchcraft. When questioned about his decision, he said:

“I tell you straight, Mister– I have seen marvel in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me. Do you understand my meaning?” (Miller 91). 

He is talking about killing the women who were well respected in the society, the women that worked their entire life. This proves that no matter how good one’s reputation was, judges can implicate them by relying on religious beliefs. All those innocent women and men, fighting for their justice, but it did nothing because how religion affected people’s morals.  When Danforth was confronted with the fact that everyone he had hung might be innocent, his reaction was ridiculous. Danforth stated: “While I speak God’s law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering. If retaliation is your fear, know this– I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes. Now draw yourselves up like men and help me, as you are bound by Heaven to do” (Miller 129). 

Danforth is saying that he had already hung many people, if the other “witches” do not get hanged, the townspeople would question his judgment. Therefore, every suspect shall be sentenced to death under his judgment no matter what. This sounds like mad words, words that show no morality. How can Danforth get away with this? How can nobody stop him from killing innocent people? The answer is simple, it is because he “speaks God’s law.” This system of law run by religion is simply corrupted. The fact that Danforth goes back and judges the behavior of Reverend Hale is just the abuse of power given by “God”. Laws should be built on an equal platform for everyone on earth. There should be no laws favoring one specific religion, nor should religious beliefs be involved in laws. 

The laws of the Puritan times are based on the Bible, but it does not stop there. Justice in Puritan times had a very limited source of laws to reflect on, resulting in a closed community where people had very little freedom on some aspect of life. On the other hand, modern society has laws based on a mass variety of historic and modern events, rules, while constantly being fixed and changed. That makes an open community that is under more inclusive laws and provides more freedom to the people. When stating that there are very limited Puritan laws, the Puritan court only followed the Puritan Ten Commandments.The first five of the ten commandments are all about making people follow God and Christainity. This law that allows no religious freedom makes people extremely conscious of what they say about religion. If a person is a good Christian that goes to church every week they are “with the court”, anything said against the bible is “against it”. In the modern society where the laws allow complete religious freedom, people start expanding their beliefs, knowledge, and culture. It is this kind of diversity that makes the society develop and improve. The number six and seven commandments are rules regarding witchcraft. “Thou shalt not dress in bright colors or dance in a wicked manner.

Thou shalt not perform witchery nor conjure the devil”. This is the prime example of the “con” of involving religion in laws. These aspects of religion should not be in laws whatsoever. These laws did nothing but give people the ability to frame others, and unnecessarily limited the freedom of people. The number eight of the ten commandments says that “Thou shalt not have any opinions or beliefs not held by the entire community”. This law is the opposite of freedom of speech. It kills people’s thoughts because they can not be expressed. If people do express anything against the Puritan ideals, they will end up like John Proctor in The Crucible. When everyone is limited to driving on a single road, then the town would only be one street, not a city with spider web-like roads expanding left and right. 

It is clear that the Puritan laws contain many religious factors, but what is not written on the law is the inequality between the races and genders. The Puritans came from 1600s Britain. Under the influence of old ideologies about women and African Americans, the equality that the modern society is moving towards was simply non- existent. Puritans had many advanced ideals on the political part of the society, but “Not all of the legacy of Puritanism suggests moral uprightness. Studies since the ’70s have also found that Americens who score high on a Protestant Ethic Scale or similar metric show marked prejudice against racial minorities and the poor; hostility toward social welfare efforts; and, among obese women, self- denigration” (Hutson). Racism is one of the most important modern morality issues that is often talked about. It is so important to everyone in the modern world that the Black Lives Matter movement resulted in the biggest protest ever in American history. Racial equality is the moral that is written deep in most people’s minds, but nobody can say the same about the Puritans. With this type of inclusivity and diversity, modern society has a much higher moral standpoint than the Puritans. 

Puritanism is one of the most important moral movements in the history of America. Its legacy has passed down through time and will continue being a part of shaping American morale. No matter how great of an effect it has on modern morals, time has passed and people learn from history. The morality people have today is much more mature and human. Religion is the main reason why morality today is better than Puritan times. The exclusion of people of other religions and the religion involved in laws can heavily affect the morals of Puritans.  Modern society has dealt very well with religion, not involving religion in law, has religious freedom and also, has a better vision of equality of all races and genders. Humans will become soulless ghosts wandering around on earth if they do not have any morals. Have Morals!

The Scarlet Letter 

Feminism and Identity

Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of equality of both sexes. The Scarlet Letter is an untraditional novel for its time period due to its unconventional themes; one of which touches on feminism. While some quotes of this romantic novel might suggest the newfound feminism in a puritan society, the overall meaning of the novel does not. Hester Prynne might be an early advocate for women’s rights; however, Hawthorne’s romance still clearly undermines the individuality of women and their equality to men due to his fault to equally appreciate all women in the novel, a dramatic ending that misrepresents a strong female lead, and her own daughter who seems to overshine Hester Prynne’s potential of being a feminist. 

In order for this puritan romance to have a feminist inclination it would have to glorify and equalize all women present in the novel, which it does not. The way the novel could represent this would be to give women more important roles in the society, describe them as of equal beauty and give all women intelligence. In contrast to this statement only Hester and Pearl are deemed beautiful by the narrator. According to Hawthorne while all other women besides the two protagonists are described as manly and unstastful in a man’s eyes: “The women, who were nowstanding about the prison door, stood within less than half a century of the period when the man-like Elizabeth had been not altogether suitable representative of the sex. […] The bright morning sun, therefore, shone on broad shoulders and well developed busts, and on round ruddy cheeks … ” (Hawthorne 45). This passage suggests how unrefined and unattractively fat the puritan country women were in comparison to the dark, long haired and thin Hester Prynne. Hester also possesses a very stereotypical women’s job that compromises her power as an advocate for rights; she is in fact a seamstress. Even furthering this imperfect representation of what an ideal feminist should represent, Hester is not very wise and gullible. When she is invited by Mistress Hibbins, a witch, to the forest to sign her name to the Devil, she would not have thought twice unless it were for Pearl. The novel adheres to none of these attributes that would make a strong powerful woman to advocate for feminism.  

The development of the story has a few instances that could suggest to the reader that this is in fact a feminist novel, but the ending unveils this farce. Hester makes this entire novel as an individual keeping her worries to herself as an outcast from society, but as seven years pass she reconnects with Dimmesdale and lets his influence, the one of a man, impact her. In the book she does torture herself and decides to live with her ignominy by staying in the birthplace of her shame: Boston. However she sabotages all the lessons she learns from her shame by urging to be with her lover: “‘Shall we not meet again?’ whispered she, bending her face down close to his. ‘Shall we not spend our immortal life together?’” (Hawthorne 234). While she does not spend the rest of her life with him and ends up working past her sin, there is still a very notable and infuriating moment to this scene: she lets him steal her spotlight. Dimmesdale dramatizes his reveal of the Scarlet Letter so much Hester might as well not be wearing one. The writer of “The Allegory Man Cometh” supports this statement and claims that “… he hijacks the moment and makes it all about him.” (Foster 35)This severely undermines the meaning of individuality and Hester’s identity in the novel which would make her a strong female lead. 

To further impair Hester Prynne’s character, a lot of Pearl’s actions argue that she is a better representation of feminism than Hester. Hester is very preoccupied by the influences of the puritan society. In comparison, Pearl grows up far away from these standards and therefore builds her own identity and her own judgement making her a better advocate. Additionally, Pearl grows up wild representing new beginnings that often characterize Pearl as a symbol of America, but the way she is described could also tie her to a new beginning for women’s rights in a very traditional society. As the author of “The Allegory Man Cometh ” states: “She refuses to assent to being governed from without, insisting on living by her own standards, her own governance.” (Foster 40) This repetition of the word “own” really emphasizes her individuality and identity which Hester lacks at times. An example of this is when Hester lets herself be judged by onlookers of the village and lets kids throw mud at her. In fact, when she is attacked by puritan children, it is Pearl who stands up for her and saves her from the puritan children. 

“After all, the author of this novel is a man. How could he understand the perfect struggles of a woman, especially in a Puritan society? “

After all, the author of this novel is a man. How could he understand the perfect struggles of a woman, especially in a Puritan society?  From being unwise and gullible, stereotyped and only appreciated for her beauty, and having a very sexist job, the narrator wastes this opportunity to make her a strong female lead. The development of the story looks quite favorable for Hester Prynne, however the dramatic ending negatively impacts her representation of an adequate character for women as she chooses love over an identity. Finally, her daughter who is meant to symbolize a new beginning for America might as well symbolize a new movement for feminism as she is the embodiment of individuality and a new identity. Hawthorne emulates Hesters personage as an unsure feminist; at times she represents an advocate for women’s rights but if the book is to be analyzed as a whole, Hester and the entire romance really undermine what it means to be a feminist.

A Reflection of Sin 

Should a child be the reflection of a parent’s sin? In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is shamed for adultery and forced to wear a brand on her chest: a scarlet colored “A”. Pearl represents Hester’s past, yet she presents an opportunity for growth beyond Hester’s sins. She is described as a demon child and negatively viewed throughout the town; she depicts qualities associated with her sin. Afterall, she is the product of a sin; however; she should not be compared to the “A” Hester so shamelessly wears on her chest. Unlike the scarlet letter, Pearl is the only source of awakening and bliss woven into Hester Prynne’s ungodly past. 

“These actions are influenced by her characteristics of cleverness that go along with her unruly and untamed nature.”

Pearl is a shield to all the temptations of sin that surround Hester in the small town. These actions are influenced by her characteristics of cleverness that go along with her unruly and untamed nature. She depicts many actions that go hand in hand with her rebellious character that nonetheless protect Hester Prynne from the actions of the townspeople and her temptations to repeat sinful behaviours. When the town’s children throw mud at Hester, Pearl shows great devotion in her actions, she resembles a “a dauntless child” or “an infant of pestilence” but is rational in her actions while standing up for her mother: “shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all to flight,” (Hawthorne 92) Having escaped the scorn of the town’s children, the narrator makes a remark that shapes the motives for her unhinged actions: “She resembled, in her fierce pursuit of them, an infant pestilence–the scarlet fever, or some such half-fledged angel of judgment–whose mission was to punish the sins of the rising generation,” (Hawthorne 92). The metaphor comparing Pearl to the scarlet fever sticks out as it ties in her relation to the scarlet letter, both of these elements negatively affecting the Puritan society. Another instance in which Pearl demonstrates this core value of “punishing the sins of the rising generation” is when her mother is tempted to make an encounter with the Black Man, but is faced with incertitude because she does not have anyone to take care of Pearl. Hester politely declines the invitation by claiming: “I must tarry at home, and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with mine own blood!” (Hawthorne 105). Her temptation of sin is so great that she emphasizes signing her name with her own blood out of her own will. Pearl is the only one who stands up for Hester in these scenarios and is the key to the undoing of Hester’s ignominy. 

Along with Pearl being her protection, Pearl also is Hester Prynne’s only companion and salvation. Hester’s ignominy is one of her punishments for her sin; however, Pearl sticks by her mother’s side through the public’s rejection of Hester and her values. Her mother often deems her behaviour hard to contain and manage. However, the very law which condemned Hester, had been a blessing: “The very law that condemned her — a giant stern of her features, but with vigor to support, as well as annihilate, in his iron arm — had held her up, through the terrible ordeal of her ignominy,” (Hawthorne 70).  This quote represents how the birth of Pearl gave her support and drove her away from solitude in her shame. Pearl further carries Prynne through her shame by being her companion at all times: “Never since her release from prison had Hester met the public gaze without her. In all her walks about the town, Pearl, too, was there: first as the babe in arms, and afterwards as the little girl, small companion of her mother, holding a forefinger with her whole grasp, and tripping along at the rate of three or four footsteps to one of Hester’s,” (Hawthorne 84). This comfort from her own child gives her a sense that there is someone looking up to her despite her unlawful actions and someone for whom she must continue to live sinlessly.  

A pearl often constitutes a necklace and is scarce at the bottom of the ocean in an oyster’s heart. It is an object of value and often a name attributed to someone who is prized and rare. The meaning of Pearl’s name is not accidental; it is a representation of her worth to Hester. Hester also greatly prizes her work and takes her time creating very delicate garments for Pearl: “Her mother, in contriving the child’s garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play, arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered in fantasies and flourishes of gold thread,” (Hawthorne 91). However, Hester still acknowledges that Pearl is a product of her sin, choosing crimson red for her vestments which is analogical to the scarlet letter that she wears on her chest. Additionally, Hester is adamant about the name she assigned her child and even compares her to a treasure just like pearls are found in treasure chests at the bottom of the ocean: “But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price–purchased with all she had–her mother’s only treasure!” (Hawthorne 80). It can be interpreted that the price Hester paid for her sin is ignominy and public shame but she obtained something of value, Pearl, and therefore she becomes more accepting of committing adultery. 

While many might think that Pearl is the negative outcome of Hester’s sin sent by the devil, Pearl brings joy and motivation for Hester’s life. Pearl should not be blamed for Hester’s sin as she is not responsible for the conditions she is born in or how she is brought up. However, Pearl’s cleverness distinguishes her from other children in town. She is Hester’s protection, only companion and her treasure. In keeping with the scarlet letter on her chest, Pearl is a representation and reflection of Heter Prynne’s sinful behaviour; moreover, she is also her only chance for redemption and a blessing in her world engulfed by sin.

Although after thousands of years of evolution, of all the traces that human beings have left during history – of all the wonderful scientific discoveries that human beings have been able to build, after all the wars that have happened in search of power, after all the failures and achievements of humanity – have we improved in our morals? Or have we regressed in our morals?

The reality is that the morality we have today, unlike the morality during the Puritan era, is a two-edged sword: the morality we use today has evolved since the arrival of the Puritans to the American Continent; there have been points of improvement in said moral; nevertheless, far from advancing as a society, we have regressed in various aspects of said morality.

The Puritans have only one teacher who guided them on their way, the Bible; this gospel was what the Puritans relied on to build their way of thinking. They had the firm conviction that if they were sinners, there would be no salvation for them. Nowadays we are less moral, because unlike the Puritans, we do not have something or someone– supreme being– to fear. If only before the Puritans were limited to committing some crime for fear of being punished by religion, today the people have put religion aside, so we are more likely to have less morals, and therefore we commit more crimes. Likewise, Puritans were extremely strict; the Ten Commandments were the bases of their laws, which they followed to the letter. If someone made a mistake in dictating the ten commandments, he could even get into trouble; such is the case with The Crucible, when Reverend Hale asks John Proctor to recite the ten commandments and Proctor forgets to say one: “Rev. John Hale: Do you know your commandments, Mr. Proctor?

John Proctor: Aye.

Rev. John Hale: Would you recite them please?

John Proctor: The commandments?

Rev. John Hale: Aye.

John Proctor: Thou shalt not kill.

Rev. John Hale: Aye.

John Proctor: Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods, nor covet thy neighbor’s wives, thou shalt have no other Gods before me, thou shalt not use the Lord’s name in vain, thou shalt keep holy the sabbath day, thou shalt honor thy mother and father, thou shalt not bare to false witness … thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wives” (Miller 67). And as the Puritans were very strict and square with their ideals, in the same example of Miller in The Crucible we see how Reverend Hale uses the fact that Proctor has forgotten the sin of adultery, and this serves as sufficient evidence to label the Proctor family as sinners in the eyes of God, and evidently the community. Consecutively we know that for the same cause they end up taking Proctor´s wife, Elizabeth Proctor, to incarceration: “She walks out of the door, Herrick and Cheever behind her. For a moment, Proctor watches from the doorway. The clank of chain is heard” (Miller 78). At that time, at least the Puritans clung to religion, and they feared the power of God, so it limited them to do more bad things, and gave them morality; if they had already sinned, at least it kept them out of their situation and made them bow to redemption, such is the case of John Proctor in The Crucible. Proctor, having had the opportunity to make a false and public witchcraft confession of his guilt in order to live, he rejects it at the last minute, because he knows that his immense pride and concern for his personal integrity is more important than his public reputation. By refusing to give up his personal integrity, Proctor implicitly proclaims his conviction that that integrity will take him to heaven. In the end he goes to the gallows as a hero redeemed for his previous sins. Ultimately, Elizabeth Proctor says “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!” (Miller 145). Because of this act of honor and pride, Proctor’s honesty and goodness, lost during his affair with Abigail, are being recovered; he bowed down to redemption and died the right way. On the other hand, today, religion has lost followers as such, today everything is freer, so people no longer fear, and this results in them being able to perform bad deeds without having the fear or worry of being punished by a supreme being. Likewise, the Puritan, as his own name indicates, wants at all costs to feel pure, and for this reason he will never be able to give up finding the guilty, sealed with the original stain of weakness or crime. So how could they allow their honor to be tainted? The Puritans thought two or more times before acting, out of fear of the power of God over mere mortals, so it stopped them and as a result they acquired more elements related to morality.

We often see how religion, and therefore the fear of Almighty God, plays an important role in various parts of the novel The Scarlet Letter; an example is when Minister Dimmesdale mentions to the protagonist Hester Prynne “The judgment of God is on me” (Hawthorne 132) referring evidently to the judgment that Dimmesdale will have at the time of his death regarding the sin–adultery– that he has committed. Also, this example shows us the remorse Dimmesdale had for having committed this sin, which is also reflected in Hester Prynne, where on more than one occasion, she was repentant regarding the same sin that she committed with Dimmesdale. When Hester, for whom the scarlet A is a mark of humiliation, willingly accepts this humiliation in lieu of drawing suspicion upon her partner in sin: “It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and inclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 40). This line describes the consequences of her sin: being isolated, and not treated like a normal woman as a punishment imparted by the strict rules of the Puritans hand in hand with the word of God.

In both examples cited above, it is demonstrated how clearly all Puritan morality took religion as its point of origin or beginning; over time, the impact of religion and the power of God has drastically diminished. A study taken in 2015– 300 years after Puritanism to be exact– showed that specifically 53% of the entire world population is a practitioner of some religion (Jenik). Today, a little less than half of the population does NOT fear something or someone whereas before, the Puritans were limited to committing some crime for fear of being punished by the word of God. Nowadays people have put religion aside, and have been given more freedom, so people are now more likely to fear nothing and have no remorse thus leading to more atrocities.

On the other hand, as a justification for the acts they carried out, the Puritans used their conviction about God and the devil as a mechanism to further their laws, and therefore to argue their actions. Unfortunately, today, atrocities committed by individuals are no longer generally justified by factors such as religion. Whereas the Puritans, as described in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, during the “Salem Tragedy” in 1629 (Miller 6), where at least five of the defendants died in prison, and the twenty-six people who went to trial were convicted, and a second court sentenced twenty-nine people for witchcraft, where nineteen of the accused– fourteen women and five men– were hanged, they did so with the justification of what they interpreted through the bible. It is true that several officials with great influence in the Puritan court only had an interest in obtaining more power in the form of territories or goods, evidently abusing their authority to obtain their own benefit at the cost of damaging others; this activity continues to this day, but the difference is that today those who abuse their power can no longer use the pretext of religion as a valid reason. During the 18th century, science was not advanced, there was almost no technology, so all they had was religion. If all were faithful believers in it, or only used it as a defense mechanism to acquire more power, we will not be able to know. But what is a guarantee is that atrocities were committed before, as in the case of the Salem Tragedy of 1629, due to religious ideals. As an example, in 2019 it is recorded that it was the year in which there were more mass shootings in schools in the United States, where there were more than 41 shootings and a total of 211 deaths (US saw highest number of mass killings on record in 2019, database reveals). If we compare it to the Salem Tragedy, the total casualties from the shootings is more than 7 times the death toll in Salem. Of course, we must take into account factors such as the fact that today there are more people in the world, weapons are more developed, and that also the shootings happened in a longer period of time; however, if we observe proportional factors of both times, statistically, what happened in 2019 is still more drastic. This clearly shows how morals and honor have been declining over the years. It should be noted that when referring to the idea that Puritans had more morals than before, it does not mean that their morals have been completely correct, but they did have more honor before, which unfortunately has been lost over the years.

As a last point, although Puritan morality was that morality that referred to sin and guilt precisely to repress women by assigning them a subordinate social, and sexual role, and fortunately the role of women has evolved and improved over time– nowadays women have the right to study and work, and participate in the decisions of society– even though slavery has been abolished, and the panorama has been opened to people who are part of the LGBT + community, individuals continue to be killed for the simple fact of having a different characteristic– skin tone, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or race– there is more violence in the world than there was 300 years ago, and the honor of man has diminished. A study carried out in 2021 showed that despite being only 13% of the population, African Americans have been 26% of those killed by the police in 2021, and they are 2.5 times more likely than whites to be killed by the police only because of being a “person of color” (Sinyangwe). From a few decades to the present, acts of violence against African Americans have been like a roller coaster ride, growing and decreasing. Great figures of American literature have shared their experiences of racism against them for the simple fact of being “black“; such is the case of Ta-Nehisi Coates: “But race is the child of racism, not the father. And the process of naming “the people” has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy. Difference in hue and hair is old. But the belief in the preeminence of hue and hair, the notion that these factors can correctly organize a society and that they signify deeper attributes, which are indelible — this is the new idea at the heart of these new people who have been brought up hopelessly, tragically, deceitfully, to believe that they are white” (Coates 7). Here we realize the lack of morality that exists in American society, because it is incredibly unfortunate that people see others as inferior simply because they are different; either because of the tone of their skin, their nationality, sexual orientation, or the simple fact of being a woman. At present, in the United States there is no federal law that explicitly protects the LGTBI community (lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex) in situations of employment or housing discrimination; twenty-eight states lack state laws that prevent an LGTBI person from being fired from work or expelled from home by the owners (Tombesi, Díez). On the other hand, studies show that every nine seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten in the United States (“11 FACTS ABOUT DOMESTIC AND DATING VIOLENCE”). The morality of a society goes hand in hand with the way they behave with respect to different situations; violence is a way of response by a society to a circumstance. Since the Puritan era, violence in American society has dramatically-and-exponentially increased. In the last twenty years, according to the US Department of Defense, “the total military spending in Afghanistan–from October 2001 to September 2019– had reached $ 825 billion, with about another $130 billion spent on reconstruction projects. That brings the total cost– based on official data– to US $ 955 billion between 2001 and 2019” (“US saw highest number of mass killings on record in 2019, database reveals”). Moreover, the US spent about $ 4.69 trillion on World War II. It also disbursed more than 300,000 million dollars in World War I, $389.81 billion in the Korean War, in addition to another $843.63 billion in the Vietnam War, among $1.01 trillion in the Iraq War (Harrington & Suneson). What moral is a society like this going to have, which prefers to invest the vast majority of its finances in wars– where no one gains anything, and everyone ends up losing– instead of spending it on things that do not include violence. The entire budget spent on wars in the USA represents almost 35 percent of GDP (O’Hanlon), while the budget for the health area is only 5 percent of GDP. With all the money that has been spent in the last 100 years in wars, it could have been used to improve health, even to improve space technology. But it is the reality. America’s morals dictate that we must spend the most on developing weapons, prioritizing wars, violence; all this is what is reflected in society today; it is what the next generations are learning. At least in Puritan times the best they could hope for their budget was to improve their judicial, executive, and legislative systems.It is clear that although the Puritans’ morals were not entirely correct, they did have more morals during the 17th century than today. Our morals today reflect violence, inequality, unethical, and poor judgment within our society. We have already seen how it is that now individuals are not afraid of being punished and being brought before spiritual justice; how is it that now there is no valid justification for the crimes we commit; how is it that now there is more violence, more deaths, more inequalities committed every day in our society. Although we have evolved and have brought positive points to this society, our morals have changed, we no longer have honor and we have more and more moral decline; what are we passing down to our children, if we cannot even respect our fellow man?