American Literature (C) Portfolio

Corruption of Yesterday

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller the absence of morality and discipline ring true.  In The Scarlet Letter the main character Hester Prynne commits the ultimate sin of adultery, and lives under a dark cloud for the rest of her life.  In The Crucible hundreds of innocent women are falsely accused of witchcraft, killed, hung, and tormented for a crime they didn’t commit.  In both books the response from the society is fallacious and full of hate.  The male authority of Boston tries to take Hester’s child from her, while in Salem the lack of discipline devastates the town.  Hester questions the life of her child, while John Proctor is killed for confession and honesty.  In both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible the citizens in Salem and Boston experience the mistreatment of children, society’s poor influence on its people, and the makeup of such dark societal elements, showing to be less moral than today’s society.  

In talking about society’s poor influence on its people, the malicious words of the authority and citizens in Salem prove that morality was of no importance in the late 1600s.  In today’s society we stress the importance of making mistakes and learning from them.  When making mistakes we are told that we need to “be able to govern our behavior in the near term so as not to injure ourselves or our community” (Nygren, 1996).  Abigail Williams, an orphan in the town of Salem, is the girl who had been fooling with witchcraft.  She and a bunch of daughters of the town are hiding the secret of guilt towards witchcraft.  In hopes to not reveal their illegal acts in the woods she yells at the other girls saying, “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring you a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller, 19).  Her words are hurtful, but the real hurt is the souls of the girls that she will ‘shudder.’  Abigail is threatening to kill any of the girls that speak a word of truth about their “dancing in the woods.”  The influence of the shaming in the town is what causes the fear in her to say these words to feel protected.  In comparison to today’s society she is not ‘governing her behavior’ in a way that won’t ‘injure’ the community.  The society is being affected because of her inability to confess, therefore innocent people are being killed instead.  The lack of morality in her character prevents her to see that she is wrong, something today’s society stresses.          

The morality and treatment of children today is something taken seriously within our society, we as people cherish the existence of children.  In The Scarlet Letter the existence of Pearl is often times questioned to the point of life and death.  Hester struggled to forgive herself of her sin, even after others had given her forgiveness.  In questioning the evil she possessed she questioned the life of her child Pearl.  Unsure about the purpose of being a mother Hester says, “If little Pearl were entertained with the faith and trust, as a spirit-messenger no less than an earthy child, might it not be her errand to soothe away the sorrow that lay cold in her mother’s heart, and converted it into tomb” (Hawthorne, 124)?  Hester is expressing the wish of her own daughter being dead.  The ‘tomb’ signifies the want of death Hester has for her little Pearl.  Hester believes the influence she has on little Pearl is not acceptable to the point where she wishes death on her own child.  Wishing death upon your own child is not allowed in today’s society, that idea is not at all moral.  Children in today’s society must be given attention and guidance. “To be successful in shaping socially acceptable, law-abiding behavior, positive reinforcement must become a way of life for parents, teachers, and others. It is a philosophy of rearing children — your own and others as well — that must be taught and reinforced by parents and all members of the community to be most effective” (Stephens, 1998).  The moral treatment of children today is constructive criticism, and ‘positive reinforcement.’ In today’s society we take care of our children, rather than wish harmful outcomes upon them.  In the 1600s it was seen as okay to wish death upon a child, something of no morality.  

The immorality of the society in Boston, Massachusetts during the time of The Scarlet Letter was due greatly to the makeup of the town.  In the beginning of the book readers are given a description of the town, as well as the character possessed by the citizens who made up Boston at the time.Hawthorne described the scene of the town as “the founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among the earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne, 33).  The scene of Boston included a ‘prison’ and a ‘cemetery’ the two darkest elements in a society.  They resemble the consequences of immorality and wrong doing better than any other societal elements.  The ‘utopia’ during this time period was dark and devastating, full of sin and far from moral.  In today’s world our societies are made up of schools and churches encouraging moral acts and positive engagement with others.  Children go to school to learn and communicate, and people go to church to worship God.  With school comes the avenue for a successful job and future, and with the church practices comes a lifetime of forgiveness of sin.  The makeup of society today is not dark and devastating, but it influences the utmost of moral acts and discipline.  Boston in the late 1600s was the opposite of encouraging learning and forgiveness of sin, but reiterating the dark of society through prisons and cemeteries.

In both novels immorality and lack of discipline are evident through the actions and words of the characters in The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible.  Society was distances away from moral in the 1600s, influenced by the prisons and cemeteries in Boston, and the satisfaction of lies by Abigail Williams in Salem.  Each society was corrupt unlike societies today, full of new live and rejuvenation.  In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible children are unwanted, people are poorly influenced by society, and the makeup of the town is gloomy, proving that today’s society possess more morality.       

Works Cited

Nygren, Erik. “Society of Morality.” Society of Morality, 1996, www.mit.edu/people/nygren/courses/6.868/project/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.

Stephens, Gene. “Saving our nation’s most precious resources: our children.” Gale’s Ready Reference Shelf, Gale, May 1998, ic.galegroup.com/ic/uhic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=Magazines&currPage=&scanId=&query=&source=&prodId=UHIC&search_within_results=&p=UHIC%3AWHIC&mode=view&catId=&u=heb76203&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CA20581458&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York, NY: Penguin, 1995. Print.

The Hit

The atmosphere of the rink was the same that day as it has always been.  The feeling of relaxation spread through me, slowing my pace as I made my way to the locker room.  Sounds of laughs and jokes coming from my team could be heard by a good portion of the spectators.  I inhaled the familiar scent of old sweat I had become accustomed to after a lifetime of days just like this one.  

The zamboni glided at a leisurely pace down the ice while I stared at the fresh sheet awaiting gametime.  The stench of sweat filled the damp room as my head was consumed with hopeful outcomes.  The reiteration of composure and positivity voiced from my coaches reminding me why I gave my life to this game.  Every time I took the ice a sense of fearlessness came about me.

I felt the brisk air strike my cheeks as I began to skate around the rink.  The opponent was of no relevance, what mattered was my team, my responsibility, and the expectations I had for myself.  My mind was stripped of all outside thoughts as the puck was dropped.  I loved the feeling of gaining that slight lead in a one on one battle, and the sense of pride inside when I could hear my mom cheering the loudest from the stands.  Such small moments that become so important to you as you become conscious enough to realize, but forget in such a big world.  

The ice had shifted, four defending five in favor of my team.  It was an opportunity to gain a slight lead, but a short period that would strike fear in my mind.  I would visit a place I had never been before, but one I had heard to be challenging.  The clock continued to tick down 39 then 38.  The advantage would soon be an afterthought.  

A sudden force took over me and my complete control was lost.  The back of my helmet struck the ice like a bolt would strike the sky.  I now lay face up staring at the ceiling of a building so unfamiliar to me and so bland.  The voices that surrounded me silenced as I laid still and the play around continued. The hopeful thoughts I once had now turned to fear.    

The dark vision of life that had been described to me was nothing like I had thought up; it was unfamiliar and new.  The voices disappeared and confusion paused all thoughts.  I had no idea what just happened as I lay there without movement.  The expectations I had of myself were all forgotten.

A blur of faces appeared standing over me as I tried to lift myself.  The atmosphere around me had become so heavy and unclear as I made my way to the bench.  The voices of concern surrounding me were quaint and little in my vulnerable state.  I replied in ways that were vague because I felt nothing, something I had never experienced before.  My pain was silenced by the adrenaline of intense competition that lay ahead.

Victory continued to ease the unseen pain that would soon become apparent.  Checks of reality began to cross over me as I thought I was walking away from a small bruise, but soon noticed what had just happened.  The feeling of fear took over me leaving me scared for what lay ahead.  I now would appreciate such opportunities, and cherish such prideful moments that seemed so small, but when taken away they flourish so big.  Never take happiness for granted because what is once happiness can so quickly be the one thing that makes you unhappy.    

And the season stopped dead.

Living in Grey

There’s something about change, something so distasteful to some, but for others such
excitement.  My emotional burden is fueled by change.  Two weeks ago my grandmother moved in.  We built an addition on the house after my pepere died so that she wouldn’t be lonely.  The elderly are a tough crowd, they can be stubborn and grouchy, but they’re also known to spoil their grandkids from time to time.  They drive you a little crazy when they’re in their own little world and are unaware of their surroundings.  It never occurred to me that when we talked about the new plans a year ago it would actually happen, but now I find myself waking up to a house of six instead of five.  While the end goal was to give my memere some company, this change has developed into my mental burden I live through everyday.  

In a time like this it’s easy to become more adamant of your routines and habits.  When someone moves in, especially a grandparent, routines are changed, a sense of peace is taken from you.  Suddenly I wake up in the morning and someone is asking me questions, offering me breakfast, but that’s not my routine.  I don’t like mornings.  Usually the first words I speak in the morning don’t come until first period begins.  I pop a bagel in the toaster, cream cheese it, and then run out the door.  To me this change has been frustrating and hard; and has created a real absence of personal time.

As I previously mentioned the morning adjustment has been particularly hard for me.  As much as I love sleeping, I also love to go to school and socialize.  When I wake up in the morning I don’t want to be asked questions, “quizzed” as I call it.  However, when your 80 plus year old memere asks you how you slept, it’s not necessarily the right thing to ignore her.  I know that she is only trying to be compassionate, but that’s not my routine, and it’s not how I do mornings.  I really just want to be left alone, but it’s hard when she’s always asking if I have practice, if I need a snack, or if I packed a lunch even though I tell her everyday that my school has a dining hall.  One morning my sister’s alarm was going off and she thought it was mine so she woke me up, little did she know my alarm wasn’t going to go off for another hour.  As clueless as she always is I’m quite sure she learned a lesson that morning.  She’s my memere so I forgive her, but the adjustment and change on the topic of mornings has been nothing short of a real challenge.  

The second challenge is the peace aspect of the deal.  On Sunday’s my mom usually runs her errands and I get the house to myself for a little while.  This is the time when I usually start on my homework without distractions, but not this past Sunday.  As I dragged out my school bag to the kitchen counter and stacked up all my books, of course it wouldn’t be right if she didn’t chime in “what are you doing?”  In my head I’m thinking wow this is really bad, this woman can’t even put two and two together.  I have a stack of school books, a school bag, and a laptop, I’m obviously doing homework.  I know she was only trying to strike conversation so instead of voicing these thoughts I put a nice fake smile on and said, “oh I’m just working on some homework.”  You’d think when I put in my headphones she would notice and just continue to watch the television, but nope “what classes are you taking?”  This sounds cruel, but I tried to pretend I didn’t hear.  Next thing you know she’s yelling my name.  So I surrender, I pulled out a headphone from one ear and listed off all my classes.  I continued to tell her I was listening to music so I wouldn’t be able to hear her and she just left me alone finally.  This may seem small, but when it happens constantly and you’re not used to it you get annoyed really quickly, I promise.  

To say the least I wouldn’t say that I’m completely on board with this recent change.  She just moved in and I’m already over it.  I’m sure time will tell, but while the adjustment is still fresh it has been a real back-breaker.  In the end she’s my memere and I gotta love her for it, but sometimes I wish she would just get it.  Change, some people really embrace it, but let me assure you I’m silently not one of those people.  To me voicing complaint isn’t worth it.  There’s no refund on the addition and it’s not like we can ship her via UPS to somewhere different.  She is family and it hasn’t been the easiest of transitions, but whether family or friends the door to 40 St. Patrick is always open.

Hebron Academy Men’s Soccer; My Family

We are a family of the present and past
Showing our courage until the last-
Day, we fight and live together
The hope we share is like a feather.

Why are our hopes and dreams like a feather?
Well, it’s because it doesn’t matter the weather-
Because today and forever, our dreams are light and bright;
so there’s absolutely nothing to fright
Because nothing can stop us!
Man o man, i repeat, nothing can stop us

We are brothers until we die
Because we always try
To do the things that seem impossible,
Because together we are unstoppable

We are more than just a team;
A family, trying to achieve a dream
Because together we can do all
There is absolutely no way that we can fall

My family is forever growing
And yes it is truly showing
That there is more to us than just soccer
We are known as more than just the everyday watchers-
Of life, because we live together
Achieving our dreams and creating moments that we will remember forever

Not just in soccer or futbol, but in life,
Because we show courage and aren’t afraid to have a ball,
And in the end we will die, not in sadness or in strife,
But as a family that once lived together
That will always know what we did, forever.

This is for my family, my friends, and my brothers
Because they are truly like no other.
We are lead by our coaches
Because they love and care for us with meaningful approaches

I am apart of something bigger than me,
A life led by a simple dream,
In hope to fulfill our destiny,
We are more than the definition of a team.

We are courageous together,
And when we leave I will miss you guys forever,
But we must know that it is true
That we are together forever, and we will never lose!

By: Tyler Swanbeck

Your Destiny Has Already Been Decided

In the book, The Sun Also Rises, the main character Jake struggles with the fact that he cannot be with the women he loves, Brett. No matter how hard Jake tries to keep Brett to himself, she ends up betraying him for the physical love of other men. While trying to court Brett, in an attempt for her to be his own, Jake often endures much sadness and pain that is detrimental to his health. This pain is so severe that it sometimes causes Jake to cry at night because of the depressed state Brett’s presence puts him in. Though, during the end of the book, Jake has an epiphany, while swimming in the sea, that allows him to escape the pain loving Brett causes him. Later, when the two meet up in a cab, Brett tells Jake that it would be great if the two could be together. Jake replies with stating, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway 251), which is a celebratory moment for Jake, as well as the readers, because it shows us that Jake has finally escaped the grasp of Brett’s beauty, and ultimately is able to be happy.

Hemingway delivers a message to the readers explaining that, “You can’t always get what you want…”, but “you just might find you get what you need…”. These sayings also are, coincidentally, the lyrics to a famous song written by The Rolling Stones called You Can’t Always Get What You Want. In this song the musical sound begins as depressed and sad, just like Jake’s journey for love, with Brett, but then as the song continues its overall sound turns into a celebratory beat. This also relates to Jake’s journey because it represents the moment when he finally realized that he can be happy without Brett. Basically Jake, “[couldn’t] get what [he wanted]”, but “[he found that he got what he needed]”. Jake realized that it was healthier for him to separate himself from this unrealistic love he had for Brett.

Through comparing the two works of art, The Sun Also Rises and the song You Can’t Always Get What You Want, you can conclude that both main characters, whether in the song or the book, are hung up upon the fact that the girl they love is seeing another man. While reading, The Sun Also Rises, we see how this affects Jake in a negative way that causes him pain. This pain is best shown through the song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, when the sad musical tone is first played, and the main character in the song, is reminiscing about how much he loves the girl. We can tell that both characters are in pain, but as the music speeds up and becomes more joyful it represents an epiphany celebrated by both characters because they have finally realized that, all along, they were better off and happier without the girl they supposedly loved.

Jake, and the main character from the song, are celebrated in the fact that they were able to escape the unrealistic world they were living in, where only their feelings for the woman they loved controlled them. Ultimately, the epiphany that self-happiness and self-sustainability is a real thing, saved the two characters from themselves and brought them back to the reality where they are able to live and thrive along their true path of life. This relates to reality in that our destinies are already written, it just depends on how long it takes you to figure out your life story, and true calling.

Works Cited:

1. “AZLyrics.” AZLyrics, 2000, www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rollingstones/youcantalwaysgetwhatyouwant.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.
2. Hemingway, Ernest, “The Sun Also Rises, 1926

Whether it is fair or not, a habitual criminal is more likely to be forgiven when he does a good thing, while a good man is intolerable to make even one mistake. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Reverend Author Dimmesdale, is often criticized by readers that he makes a mistake and commits adultery with a woman named Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale is a fallen angel in the man’s world. As a clergyman from Oxford University, he gained high eminence and reputation among the public with his ‘eloquence’ and ‘religious fervor’. He is a good man, like an ‘heaven-ordained apostle’, to spread all his learnings in the new world. On the other hand, as an ordinary human being, he doesn’t restrain his desire of love; he also hides his secret sin for seven years until he finally confesses to the public. Even though Dimmesdale’s behavior is false and coward, he is a good man with courage and sense of responsibility in his personality that he finally redeems himself in his confession.

Frankly speaking, what Dimmesdale has done seems to be hypocritical and weak. When Hester is being exposed to the public on the scaffold for her sin, Dimmesdale doesn’t commit his sin to the public; he pretends to be innocent and makes Hester tell the truth. He says: “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him. What can silence do for him, except it tempts him to add hypocrisy to sin” (Hawthorne 60)? Although Dimmesdale insincerely asks Hester to tell the truth, he doesn’t want his adultery to be exposed at that time, and he knows exactly that Hester will not admit. However, instead of showing his hypocrisy, what Dimmesdale said reveals his ambivalent thoughts and struggle in his mind. As a respectable clergyman, the education he had merely teaches him how to earn reputation from the public; no one tells him how to face the true life or mistake. He is like a panicky angel who has never experienced human’s life before. His wings are too weak to escape the burden on his soul, and thus he looks for Hester’s help. Indeed, he doesn’t want to be hypocritical; he suffered in the torment on his mind; he struggled with his sin; he fought against his false behaviors. He had actually spoken to the public for more than one hundred times: “I, your pastor, whom you so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie” (Hawthorne 130). Nevertheless, his hearer heard it all and did but reverence him more. Others cannot believe he is a man with corruption and evil because Dimmesdale is a good man, an extraordinary man. No one in the world has discernment on the sin like him. He is a brave man who never stops confesses.

Dimmesdale is a man with courage throughout his whole life. Under the gloomy phenomenon and strict rules of Puritans, he had courage in pursuit of happiness and love, even though he disobeys moral principles. As soon as he realized that he had committed adultery, he begins his secret self-blame; the scarlet letter “A” on his bosom is the presence. The narrator explained how the scarlet letter imprinted in the flesh: “On the very day when Hester Prynne first wore her ignominious badge, had begun a course of penance-which he afterwards, in so many futile methods, followed out, – by inflicting a hideous torture on himself” (Hawthorne 236). Dimmesdale’s confession begins with the torture on his body. He whips himself every day to make a scar; who can query that it doesn’t need courage? Dimmesdale suffered in the torment on the body, he also resisted in the mental persecution from Chillingworth. When Dimmesdale hears that Chillingworth was Hester’s former husband, he is afraid at first but then takes his courage and goes back to his house. He says: “I thank you from my heart, most watchful friend. I thank you, and can but requite your good deeds with my prayers” (Hawthorne 205). Chillingworth is Dimmesdale’s enemy and has overwhelming power over him. However, in Dimmesdale’s tone, there is irony. How brave Dimmesdale is to satirize Chillingworth under the risk of infuriating him! In the profound, lonely and painful confession, Dimmesdale is not only a good man with the courage to confess, he has courage to take responsibility for his duty.

Dimmesdale has dual identities. He is a reverend clergyman overseeing the spread of religious thoughts; meanwhile, he is also a father. As a pastor, he doesn’t leave his parishioner. In his confession, his health condition is gradually deteriorating. However, with a strong sense of mission, he still goes to a sick-chamber to make a prayer. As a father of Pearl, the outcome of his sin, he takes his responsibility and prevents Pearl from being taken away. The narrator described how Dimmesdale persuades the governor as: “This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame hath from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart, who pleads so earnestly, and with such bitterness of spirit, the right to keep her” (Hawthorne 102). He uses his wisdom that describes Pearl as a product from the God to make the persuasion convincible. Dimmesdale does the best to do his duty as a father. His sense of responsibility helps him to confess and makes him a good man.

To err is human, to confess is an angel. As a fallen angel confessing in the man’s world, Dimmesdale’s courage and sense of responsibility make him a good man. When he takes courage and responsibility to stand on the scaffold, he is redeemed: “God’s eye beheld it! The angels were forever pointing at it! The Devil knew it well, and fretted it continually with the touch of his burning finger” (Hawthorne 233). Dimmesdale is a good man. His redemption of death repairs his angel’s wings that he finally flies into the heaven!

A pearl, with its mellow color and exquisite appearance, stands for health and purity. As a gift of nature, it is cherished by the world. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester, the protagonist, treats her daughter, Pearl, as her own treasure. Being the outcome of Hester’s adultery, Pearl plays an important role in her life, suffering and sharing torments with her. With Pearl’s new and transmitted vigor, she becomes a constructive force in her mother’s life. Hester described Pearl as “a doubtful charm, imparting a hard metallic luster to the child’s character” (Hawthorne 168). Pearl has a wild energy in her nature to fight against sorrow. Even though Pearl’s abnormal behavior sometimes afflicts Hester, she supports Hester’s spirit and keeps her from danger.

Frankly speaking, it is true that Pearl sometimes brings Hester some unutterable pain by performing strange actions. The narrator describes one action as, “She amused herself with gathering flowers, and flinging them, one by one, at her mother’s bosom; dancing up and down, like a little elf, whenever she hit the scarlet letter” (Hawthorne 87). She aims at Hester’s scarlet letter and throws flowers at it, which makes Hester think about her sin. Pearl’s behavior punishes Hester, and the existence of Pearl is the living embodiment of the sin. However, only through this punishment on her mind can Hester obtain her redemption and enhance her will.  Someone may also argue that “Pearl is the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life” (Hawthorne 92). The scarlet letter “A” is the representative of her soul, showing her reckless attitude toward her shame. She never hides it, while she makes the letter on her bosom colorful and attractive with the golden embroidery. Pearl, the symbol of the scarlet letter, does not become the destructive force, but brings Hester pride. Pearl is the gift from god. Hester refuses to hide the scarlet letter with Pearl when she is walking to the scaffold because she is proud of Pearl. She also buys the richest tissues that could be produced to make clothes for Pearl. The redemption and pride, along with the love and happiness, preserve Hester’s soul.

Pearl becomes Hester’s spiritual support because she brings love and happiness to her. When the governor plans to take Pearl away from Hester, she argues for the happiness that Pearl brought to her. She says, “God gave me the child! He gave her, in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She is my happiness” (Hawthorne 101). As a mother, Hester gains happiness by taking care of Pearl. The ‘happiness’ strengthens their relationship that no one can separate them. The iron bond between them supports Hester’s spirit and makes her insist in the torment. Dimmesdale, Pearl’s father describes the meaning of Pearl’s existence as, “to preserve her from blacker depths of sin into which Satan might else have sought to plunge her” (Hawthorn 103). Satan is the representative of evil who can destroy the despairing soul. Hester has already lost her lover; without Pearl, Hester will have no hope to live in this world anymore. Pearl’s existence supports Hester’s spirit to insist living and suffering in the torment; she protects Hester as well.

As a notorious woman with the scarlet letter on her bosom, the status and situation of Hester is dangerous. Pearl, like a guardian, prevents her mother from getting in trouble. When the other children want to fling mud on Pearl and Hester, Pearl takes action immediately. The narrator describes Pearl’s behavior as, “Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, shaking her little hands with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies and put them all to fight” (Hawthorn 92). The other children have evil in their mind and they use the immoral action to hurt others. However, from Pearl’s motion, and the word: ‘stamping’, ‘shaking’, and ‘rush’, it is easy to find her desire to protect her mother. When facing danger, the only person Pearl cares about is Hester. More importantly, it is Pearl who prevents Hester to go to the witch dance in the woods because Hester cherishes Pearl. If Pearl is taken by the governor and leaves Hester alone, she will be in great danger.

Pearl herself, along with the pride, redemption, happiness that she brought, helps preserve Hester’s soul and protect her from danger. Moreover, Pearl, as Hester’s treasure, reshapes Hester from a sinner with desperation to a woman with truth, loyalty, and courage. Pearl, lingered about by the light and brightened by its splendor, “never stop scintillating with vivacity in the darkness around her” (Hawthorn 167).

Morality in Society

            Human beings are social animals; the gregarious tendency brings people together to form the society, in which each person has different cognition and judgment on everything. People’s common thought on what is good or evil, the morality, bonds everyone in the society, and establishes the system of value and principle. However, a society with everyone having morality is unachievable; the lack of morality creates rules, as it is stated in the book The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne about the Puritan time: “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have recognized the necessities to allot a portion of soil as a cemetery and a prison” (Hawthorne 42). Prisons are the representatives of laws and immorality. If we look at the prisons in our society, is it obvious that their size and quantity are constantly increasing, while the society is becoming less moral?

Nowadays, our society, under the veil of stability, charity, integrity, and dignity, is losing its morality. It looks moral but is indeed corrupted; the evil is deeply rooted in people’s mind. The hypocrisy, along with the discrimination and cruelty, dominates the world and people’s minds, and the society itself is being hypocritical. Those immoral ideas control people, and thus make the society less moral than it was in the Puritan time since the 1600’s.

The phenomenon of losing morality in society is due to hypocrisy. Frankly speaking, nobody can be “immune” from hypocrisy because “it makes people look moral”; “It affects our appearance, our speech, the way we look at people and how we judge them” (Williams). The hypocrisy in human nature doesn’t change over time; however, people’s response to their own hypocrisy has become more immoral since Puritan time. In the book, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller about the witchcraft in Puritan time, the protagonist, John Proctor, is a man who betrays his wife and commits adultery. “He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own fashion of decent conduct” (Miller 20). Proctor is a candid and “steady” man with an “untroubled soul”; simultaneously, he lies to his wife and public about his affair with another girl. He is hypocritical and immoral, but he has insight in his sin and never stops confessing. Proctor says: “I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is Fraud” (Miller 136). He saves his morality by confessing to his hypocrisy. Even though his morality is not enough to “weave a banner with”, it is “white enough to keep it from such dogs”, and to be distinguished from the people in modern society. In order to escape from the government monitoring, Hilary Clinton set up a private email server when she was a secretary of state. The only motivation to do this is the lack of transparency and legality of her work. Her leaked emails indicate that she was the sole arbiter in the incidents such as the congressional committee investigating the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi (Zurcher). How did she respond to her sin? She said she sent those emails when she was a lawyer; some of them are about her daughter’s wedding. She even signed an affidavit swearing that she had turned over all copies of government record in office (Zurcher). As a social leader, Hilary is hypocritical and immoral to use her private email and ignore the cyber security of the country; her response to her hypocrisy, hiding the truth and appeasing the public voice, makes her even more immoral and hypocritical. Both Proctor and Hilary are the typical examples and the social leaders of the society. Hilary’s hypocritical behavior and Proctor’s heroic story prove that the society is becoming less moral.

Social opinion on hypocrisy also reveals the changing immorality in society. Hilary’s emails were leaked six months ago and almost everyone in the world knows this incident. Even though she lost her campaign today, she won the popular vote. More than a half of the population in the society chose to ignore her hypocrisy and still thought her resume as the most qualified to become a social leader. Does it show the indifference of hypocrisy and morality in the society? In comparison, almost four hundred years ago, people treat hypocrisy with high recognition. In the Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Revered Dimmesdale is a hypocritical man who committed adultery with a married woman. He hides his sin for seven years and finally chooses to confess to the public during the procession. In Dimmesdale’s redemption of his hypocrisy, the multitude remained silent then “broke out in a strange, deep voice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance, save in this murmur that rolled so heavily after the departed spirit” (Hawthorne 235). The deep voice of ‘awe and wonder’ show the esteem of the society to the man who dares to confess his hypocrisy. The society in Puritan time, as a whole, is depressive; however, unlike the people in modern society, people in ancient times choose to confront the hypocrisy and respect the people who admit hypocrisy; their honesty earns them more morality.

People in the modern world never stop emphasizing morality in the society, but what people do today is immoral and even cruel and discriminatory. Few disabled people are employed; People of color are not respected; the policemen who shot innocent black people were even acquitted for the charge. A mother has written an account of what happened to her son in a drug raid in Atlanta: “the officers, armed with M16s, filed through the house like they were playing war. I heard my baby wailing and asked one of the officers to let me hold him. He screamed at me to sit down and shut up and blocked my view. I could see a singed crib and a pool of blood” (Pierce). The mom and the baby were both innocent, but why did the policemen treat them as crimes, just because they are slums in the lower class of the society? More shockingly, some people even cheer for the cruelty and discrimination because they think lower class do not deserve the same benefits of the political commonwealth (Pierce). What is wrong with this current society? When we look at the society in the Puritan time, there was no such physical violence, even though the cruelty and prejudice did exist. In the Scarlet letter, Hawthorne described the cruelty as: “Clergymen paused in the street to address words of exhortation, that brought a crowd, with its mingled grin and frown, around the poor, sinful woman” (Hawthorne 76). This verbal abuse hurts people’s mind; nevertheless, it seems mild when being compared to the cruelty in the modern society. With such cruelty and discrimination, people in the modern society are not only losing their morality, but their humanity. This civilized society we live in is becoming less moral and even more barbaric than it was in the puritan time.

In the exploration of morality in the society, it is hard for people to accept the truth. The indifferent response of people and society to hypocrisy, together with the cruelty and the discrimination in people’s mind, prove that the morality in our society has been deteriorating and degenerating since the 1600’s. As a part of this society, I am concerning about the future of morality. As an individual, what I can do is to behave more morally.

To our relief, there are still sincerity, equality, and humanity in the society. They may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that helps the society to preserve its morality (Hawthorne 43).

You need water when you are thirsty; you need food when you are hungry; you want desert though you are full; you want more deserts because they are good. What you need is controlled by your body and mind, while what you want is from your infinite desire. Needs are so simple that wants always exceed the needs. You can usually get what you need, but you can’t always get what you want. Some internal and external forces will always prevent you from getting what you want, and there are so many of what you want that you can’t get them all. Like “the lost generation” in The Sun Also Rises, their desire prompts them to seek for the meaning of life, but the reality keeps them from getting what they want. However, if you try sometimes well you might find that, in daily life, whether or not you get what you want doesn’t matter. Indeed, what you need is more necessary and useful than what you want.

I once dined in a French restaurant. The waiter introduced their lobster bisque before I ordered food. The recipe salivated me and I hungered for that soup so badly. However, I decided against my desire because of the allergy to nutmeg. The lack of personal capability disallowed me to get what I want; similarly, the impotence of the narrator, Jake Barnes, is insurmountable in his pursuit of manliness. Sitting outside the café in Paris, Jake looks for a prostitute to have dinner with. In his desire, he wants to have affair with the girl, but he pushes her hand away when she tries to touch him. He feels inferior and insecure with his disability. He said to the prostitute: “Certain injuries or imperfections are a subject of merriment while remaining quite serious for the person possessing them”(Hemingway, 35). Jake’s internal problem of impotence not only disables him from getting what he want, but also deprives his confidence and maleness. However, it is the war that wounds him physically and psychologically. The external factor is more fundamental and more impactful to prevent you from getting what you want.

After glancing at the menu, I was ready to order the food. The entrée Surf and Turf was absolutely the top choice. I told the servant that I want that dish, but he said apologetically that they were running out of sirloins. How regrettable and annoying it was to not have the food I wanted! The lost generation would have the same feeling when they realized that the whole society was a lack of value. The characters in the book want to regain their value after the war; Jake wants to be non-materialistic when he returns from the fiesta. However, he wasn’t able to get what he wants because of the external problem. Materialism permeated in France. Jake describes that atmosphere with ironic tone: “Everything is on such a clear financial basis in France. It is the simplest country to live in”(Hemingway, 237). If the external society praises the Money Talk highly, how can the individuals get the modesty that they want? The lack of materials in the restaurant and the loss of value in the society are both the external forces and the reasons for people not getting their wants.

As the substitution to the Surf and Turf, I ordered salmon filet instead. After finishing the entrée, the waiter offered me the desert menu. All the puddings and the cakes sounded amazing and I wanted them all. I was entangled with the choices and asked myself ceaselessly: “What should I get?”. After the war, the lost generation is facing almost the same dilemma as mine. Seeking for love, maleness, identity, aim, and so many other values, it is impossible for them to get all they want at a time. Embroiling themselves in choosing, they are lost. They become numb and unclear what do they want, which leads them to drink, party, and travel aimlessly. They need to know what do they really need.

I ordered a coffee instead of the deserts at the end. It was what I needed for my body and digestion; the deserts that I wanted had no use but bringing me fat. The writer of the book Hemingway, as the part of the lost generation, is clear about his needs. He reveals all the ideas of his generation in his work to awaken people. He also has a unique and simple writing style which he called “iceberg theory”; he only writes about the basic needs of a novel. However, those needs are crucial in presenting what he wants to show. Needs are more important than wants.

Because of my allergy to nutmeg and the restaurant’s exhausted materials, I was unable to get the dishes I wanted. The lack of capability of the characters and the loss of value in the society, the internal and the external factors, also prevent the lost generation from getting what they want. Facing the many choices, both  Hemingway and I chose what we really needed instead of what we wanted. You can’t always get what you want to fulfill your desire, but what you need is enough to satisfy your body and mind. Next time you want something, ask yourself if you really need it.

Being Lost in Life

All is to no purpose, said the Preacher, all the ways of men are to no purpose; they are lost. This generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the World War One(Remarque, 1). Facing the holocausts, deaths, and miseries in the battles, this lost generation feels melancholy, empty, and abandoned. Indeed, after they realized the insignificance and fragility of life, how can they stop doubting about the meaning of existence and destiny? In the book The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway describes the life of the Lost Generation after the war and interprets the idea of being lost. This lost generation, with their lost soul, is lost on their way to find their lost aim in their life. They have lost their identity, value, and purpose. They try to escape from the reality but then lose themselves in their own world. The men of the lost generation are expatriates; they have lost touch with the soil. They get precious. They drink themselves to death. They become obsessed by sex. They spend all their time talking, not working. They hang around cafés(Hemingway, 120). They are lost.

The society consists of people with different identities; the loss of identity will make people lost. Almost every character in the book has lost their identity, especially the masculinity and femininity. The narrator Jake Barnes is physically wounded in the war; his impotence deprives his gender identity. Sitting outside the café in Paris, Jake looks for a prostitute. His instinct as a man drives him to have dinner with her. However, Jake only holds his arm around the prostitute. He pushes her hand away when she is trying to touch him. Jake feels insecure, inferior, and lost with the loss of his male identity. Robert Cohn, on the other hand, lacks masculinity because he has a nice, boyish sort of cheerfulness that had never been trained out of him(Hemingway, 52). Cohn allows himself to be abused terribly by his girlfriend, while listening silently the entire time she rebukes him in front of his friend. He is so juvenile and weak that he even cried in the argument. In contrast, Lady Brett, who is the only woman in the six main characters, acts like a strong bullfighter, revolving her relationship vigilantly around the men with her. She lacks the femininity that Romero even suggests her to grow her hair out to be more womanly. The gender identity of each person is totally switched between men and women. The loss of identity not only creates abnormal society and life but also explains the idea of being lost.

Everything in the world has its value; people have their value for life and items have the value for exchange. For the lost generation, the life value is lost. Brett’s fiancé Mike has lost his value of honor, the most important value of the war. For a big dinner with Prince of Wales, he asked the tailor to find him some medals. After the dinner, he gave out the medals to the girls in a night club. Mike said: “I gave one to each girl. Form of souvenir. They thought I was hell’s own shakes od a soldier. Dashing fellow”(Hemingway, 141). Mike is indifferent with the value of metals which belong to a frightfully military cove. There is even pride in his tone. He used to be a soldier, how can he not know the value of the medals and the honor? It is the loss of life value that makes him lost. The tailor wrote him letters for returning the medals but Mike paid him one hundred pounds a year to keep him quiet. The medals lose their value of honor; the only value they have is pure money. In fact, everything in the lost generation has lost their original value. Jake represents the value of friendship as: “If you want people to like you you have only to spend a little money. Everything is on such a clear financial basis”(Hemingway, 237). In that society, the value of everything can be simplified to a labeled price. As both life and items have lost their value, the generation is lost. For them, what is the purpose for living in this world?

The men in the lost generation borne back ceaselessly into their past, suffering from the horror of the war and the desperation in life. Before they went to the war, everyone has an aim to save their country. However, the reality of the war defeated them. They lost their aim and had nothing to fight for in their lives. They are lost in the aimlessness. Under that circumstance, the only thing they can do is to escape. They want to escape from the shattered dreams; they want to escape from the cruel reality; they want to escape from the painful torment. In order to kill the pain of their past and aimlessness, they use wine and traveling to numb themselves. Jake describes the feeling of drinking as: “Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people”(Hemingway, 151). As the horror of the war constantly bothers the lost generation, they drink aimlessly to numb themselves and eliminate the pain. Moreover, drinking and traveling also filled up the hollowness of their lost life.

The idea of being lost appeared in the loss of gender identity, honor, life value, and purpose. The lost things will never come back. This generation is lost and will be eventually lost in the history. However, one generation passes away, and another generation comes. The new generation will not be lost. On one fine morning when the sun rises, it will run faster, stretch the arms farther…