American Literature (G) Portfolio

Morality can be interpreted in many different ways. The technical definition is a set of principles or values that distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, and the book The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the theme of morality is deeply explored. These texts take place during Puritan New England, a time in which people relied heavily on religion to govern their daily lives. The authors use this Puritan template to investigate the morality of the people in those times. Nowadays, religion does not play as crucial a role in the daily routine of life. However, morality is still a key component to how people act and think. Society today has a slightly more moral outlook than in Puritan times, with more voices and perspectives on morality; nevertheless, underlying stereotypes still result in immoral actions and perpetrations meaning that today’s society is not more righteous, even though their is a stronger attempt to be so.

Modern day society has a better grasp of right and wrong and the severity of people’s actions, yet stereotypes, that are brought up constantly, lead to many acts that are immoral. In Puritan times, people were very strict in their view of right and wrong, so their punishments, even for trivial crimes, were severe and unforgiving. For example, in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes how even though it was years after her crime, and she was performing good deeds, Hester was still being punished. He writes that there were, “None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty; even though the bitter-hearted pauper threw back a gibe in requital of the food brought regularly to his door, or the garments wrought for him by the fingers that could have embroidered a monarch’s robe” (Hawthorne 146). Even though she is doing good (moral) deeds, she is being scorned by the people she is helping because of a sin she committed years ago. The distinction between right and wrong in Puritan times was purely black and white. There was no middle ground. Hester has repented for her sin and is helping those less fortunate, but she is still seen and condemned as a sinner and is treated poorly because of it. If she had committed her sin in modern times this would not happen, she would not be subjected to the severe punishment that she endured. She would not have been viewed as such a bad person. Her husband had been gone for two years and she fell in love with someone else. In today’s times, if her husband had come back he most likely would have left her and she would have been punished by her own guilt and sadness, or he would have understood and forgave her. She would still be punished by her guilt but she would not be subject to the humiliation and destruction of her public standing.

Even with today’s more tolerant view of society, there are stereotypes and generalisations that people frequently make that end up with horribly unscrupulous acts. One instance of this is when Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchmen. Martin had been walking with his hoodie up in the rain and this drew the suspicion of the watchmen. It ended with Trayvon dead (Botelho, 2012). This combined with other recent law enforcement killings of unarmed black men show how stereotypes take away from the morality of our society. The perpetrators did not, as far as we know, kill them because they were black, they killed them because of a stereotype that is frequently brought up in our society and has become ingrained in the minds of many, even though it is largely false and unwarranted. The director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at the San Bernardino campus, Brian Levin, says, “We’re seeing these stereotypes and derogative statements become part of the political discourse,” during an interview for an article about an increase of muslim hate crimes (Lichtblau, 2016). Levin is referencing statements made by Donald Trump, during his campaign for presidency. These stereotypes coming up in political discourse speak to how they have become such a big part of society today. Even as these stereotypes continue to surface in the form of iniquitous acts and conversations though, people start to fight back, something that would not have been done in Puritan times. This fighting back is apparent through protests and the national outcries by citizens. In another article written about the shooting of Trayvon Martin the writer explains how the shooting affected the nation by, “igniting a national debate on racial profiling and civil rights” (Alvarez & Buckley, 2013). This statement summarizes how these events trigger the fight back and protest for morality, something that did not happen in Puritan times.

Today there are more voices and perspectives providing views on and fighting for what is right. In Puritan times, there was only one moral code, the Church, and no one dared to think differently from this perspective. If they did go against it and stand up for a personal moral code, they were opposed and even accused of being evil themselves. This is evident in an excerpt from a scene in Miller’s play, The Crucible, when John Proctor is being questioned and Reverend Parris says about John Proctor, “ ‘Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month!’… [Cheever adds] ‘He plow on Sunday, sir.’ [Danforth exclaims] ‘Plow on Sunday!’ ” (Miller 90-91). Parris brings up John Proctor’s faithfulness to the church because he wants to put Proctor in a bad light and make him seem immoral. In Puritan times, if you did not follow the church’s way you were seen as evil. The fact that John Proctor did not follow the same exact moral code as the church made him seem corrupt in the eyes of the officials such as Danforth and Parris. In their eyes, John was not completely in the right, so he was perceived as completely in the wrong. This portrays the one-sidedness of the views of people in Puritan times. This is also evident in The Scarlet Letter when Hester is given her punishment. Only one woman empathized with Hester’s situation and saw it from another perspective. All the other women viewed Hester as wicked and thought that she should be punished more. This singular perspective on the world does not lend itself to a just and moral place. It is easy to be swept up in the tide of similar or popular thoughts, as evident in the sudden and large scale accusations and condemnations of witchcraft in The Crucible. Today, there are many different moral codes and opinions on right and wrong. As a result, when an immoral thing occurs, people can view it in different ways and fight for what is right on a broader spectrum.

Today’s society is more open and objective on morality and, although there are immoral actions stemming from long-lasting stereotypes, the different and broader perspectives on right and wrong mean that more steps can be taken to fight for what is widely accepted as morally right. Overall, modern society is not more moral but at least attempting to be better. Puritan society was very strict and one-dimensional. Today’s society is more diverse and able to stand up for morality, unlike Puritan times. Negative stereotypes still result in immoral actions but justice can more easily prevail due to the wider and more accepting moral code of today and the ability to fight for what is right.

Works Cited
Alvarez, Lizette, and Cara Buckley. “Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Trayvon Martin Killing.” New York Times. 14 Jul. 2013: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000353080&type=ART
Botelho, Greg. “What happened the night Trayvon Martin died” CNN.com. Cable News Network, 23 May 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/18/justice/florida-teen-shooting-details/
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Modern Library ed., Modern Library, 2000.
Lichtblau, Eric. “Level of Hate Crimes Against U.S. Muslims Highest Since After 9/11.” New York Times. 18 Sep. 2016: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000385954&type=ART#cite
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Group, 1976.

How do we justifiably define good and evil? Is a soldier following orders to defend his country a hero, or a murderous foreigner? This theme of right and wrong, light and dark, is played out by Nathaniel Hawthorne throughout The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne makes us question whether the characters were victims of circumstance or truly corrupt by their sins. The novel consistently makes the readers go back and forth between praising the characters and routing for their happy ending, only to be pushed in the other direction believing that they are underdeveloped and in need of punishment for their sins. Out of the four main dynamic characters, Arthur Dimmesdale is the most sympathized of them because of the agony and torment he experiences caused by never admitting to his sin. He is argued to be a good man who did wrong and deserves redemption by some, bit in truth he is the representation of how any man or woman can be corrupted by evil.

There are readers who believe he is just a victim who was blinded by his love for Hester and his yearning to know his daughter. He knows he and Hester would have been hanged had the colony found out about him being the father, one could assume he keeps quiet so that Pearl and her mother are safe. During the first scaffolding scene when the men are trying to get Hester to reveal the father’s name Arthur says:

“Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” (Hawthorne 62).

In this quote Dimmesdale is practically begging Hester to say his name, he wants her to tell the townspeople so he does not have to. When he says “than to hide a guilty heart through life” he is foreseeing what would become of him if his sin isn’t voiced and in the open. He knows he needs to tell and he wants to but he is afraid of what would become of him and his new family so he leaves his fate to Hester allowing her the opportunity to out the truth. He can be viewed as a good man with a clean heart in this scene judging off how he doesn’t completely want to stay in the dark regarding his role in Hester’s sin. During the custody scene he also steps in to convince the men that Hester and Pearl belong together and they have no rightful reason to take away what God gave Hester. He states “herein is the sinful mother happier than the sinful father. For Hester Prynne’s sake, then, and no less the poor child’s sake, let us leave them as Providence hath seen fit to place them” (Hawthorne 106). He acknowledges that because Hester has Pearl she has a reason to be happy and live on while the father has nothing, and he finishes his persuasion by insinuating that they should leave the family as is because that is how the Lord wanted them to be.

In truth Arthur is a representation of how even the mighty can fall. He proves that no one person is immune to the lures of sin and the corruption of evil that taints every person. Dimmesdale made may bad decisions that were caused by the repercussions of his sin. It is human nature to try and protect oneself but Dimmesdale is continually only thinking about himself through the whole novel causing Hester and Pearl pain in the process. In chapter 11, Arthur attempts to tell his communion his sins but in the end after stating that he is “a biker companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity” the people of the church believed him all the more a saint (Hawthorne 134). He know how they would react to his “confession” as he spoke, this proves he is a hypocrite saying he wants redemption and the be open yet he hides behind all of his lies and deceit. In the last scaffold scene, Dimmesdale chooses to profess his sin to the waiting crowd and as he attempts to ascend the stairs he says to Hester “is not this better…than what we dreamed of in the forest”( Hawthorne 238). Instead of escaping to England to life a full life and raise their daughter in a happy, loving environment Dimmesdale chooses to risk the lives of those he ‘loves’ just so he can release the pressure from his heart. As he is dying he murmurs “had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost forever” this shows more proof of how selfish Arthur has became throughout the novel.

Unlike Pearl and Hester, Arthur Dimmesdale’s character went through a decline as opposed to a growth encouraged by learned lessons and personal acceptance. Instead he went from a good man who made a bad decision, to a man who let his sin dictate his actions and corrupt his beliefs. He became a selfish man who loved himself more than the woman who readily endured the hatred of the town to protect him and even his own daughter. His hypocrisy grew too as he kept talking of redemption and penitence, as he punished himself in secret, and as he put off time and again holding Pearls hand on the scaffold and passed up opportunities to confess. His actions caused his sympathised, beloved character to become hated and disrespected.

How would you feel if you were judged by what someone else did in their past? In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl is classified by her mother’s indiscretions. She is said to be a demonic spirit, the embodiment of sin, and will retain these accusations until she and her mother’s story is long forgotten. The very moment Pearl takes her first breath, she is considered an outcast by being the result of Hester’s sin. As one might assume, hearing people call you a demon and evil since the day you were born affects a child’s development. Pearl grew up hardened and tougher than a normal child would; she knows her mother and she are unwanted and unimportant to their society. With that knowledge she learns to not sit back and take whatever the townspeople decide to put upon her, unlike Hester who stays quiet with her head down. Pearl is an ornery, intelligent child who sees the effects the punishment of her sin are having on her. Being a child, she is rambunctious and a nuisance at times but she, in her own way, is actually a savior to Hester.

To the townspeople, Pearl is the embodiment of sin. She is a demon in a beautiful child’s body. Her very essence is considered brought from the fiery depths of hell and put upon Earth to torment Hester by reminding her of her sin unrelentingly. Pearl is seen as a tormentor to Hester because of her actions.

“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, because they had so much the sound of witch’s anathemas in some unknown tongue” (Hawthorne 86).

Pearls behavior towards the children in town was viewed as the result of the terrible upbringing by Hester and the evil the sin had wrought on the child. Her actions make Hester believe she really is a wicked spirit put in Earth to punish her in ways the scarlet letter cannot. This is partially illustrated when they are on their way to Governor Bellingham’s house and Pearl points at a suit of armor.

“…the Scarlet Letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it. Pearl pointed upward, also, at a similar picture in the headpiece; smiling at her mother, with the elvish intelligence that was so familiar an expression on her small physiognomy” (Hawthorne 98).

Pearl repeatedly brings attention to the letter Hester bears, knowing what the acknowledgment does to her. When she does this Hester is reminded of her sin and the pain retakes her heart as she lives through the sin once again. With devilish glee Pearl centers around what she knows will hurt her mother. However,Pearls transgressions are not how we are suppose to define her. People are so much more than their actions.

When a person acts on something they have a reason, an emotion, that drives them to make the decisions they do. Pearl cannot be defined by her negative attributes without first taking into account how she helps keep Hester on her feet. Her mother named her Pearl, describing her as, “her mother’s only treasure” putting forth the belief that God sent Pearl to Hester to save her. She is Hester’s one bright spot in her empty life, sent from Heaven to protect and anchor her mother to the ground (Hawthorne 82). In chapter six when describing Pearl the narrator states, “in the nature of the child seemed to be perpetuated those unquiet elements that had distracted Hester Prynne before Pearl’s birth, but had since begun to be soothed away by the softening influences of maternity”, this suggests Pearl has distracted Hester from the pain of her choices and the loss of her love (Hawthorne 87). She gives Hester a kind of stability she needs to rely on and is a companion in her days of confinement. Similarly, when Hester is granted custody of Pearl, Mistress Hibbins invites her to the forest but Hester turns her down with:

“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 108)

Mothering Pearl has kept Hester from further punishment by not allowing her the chance to sin. Had she lost Pearl and gone into the forest, Hester would have sinned by praising the Devil and been tried and sentenced to death for witchcraft.

Pearl is a character that generates mixed emotions throughout the novel and is an indescribable force that holds Hester steady. She is not simply a ‘demonic spirit’ but a child who comprehends the unfairness of the world and her place in it. She knows what she believes in and speaks out against the town on her and her mother’s behalf because she knows that Hester will not. Pearl is strong and does what she thinks should be done, she warns her mother and Dimmesdale of Chillingworth and denies her father rights to claim her if he does not do it publicly. Her stubbornness and sometimes coldheartedness are byproducts of the societal treatments that are in no way measureable to her, whether unintentional or not, ways of saving Hester. As opposed to being the ‘embodiment of sin’ Pearl should be described as Hester’s guardian angel, saving her from her own demise.

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, he plays off of themes of death, corruption, and faith. His use of imagery between the bodies and land creat a world that is dark and hopeless, yet he still preserves his faith; though now it is in the boy. There is no society or morals in this new world; they survive and govern themselves, make themselves the rulers and ‘Gods’ of the ruins left behind.

In the last section, readers see a dramatic row th in maturity in the boy while they travel the road. The man continues to try and preserve the boys ignorance, but after the gore witnessed, realizes it’s impossible to shield him from the horrid realities. They come across an old man, whom the boy feeds. He is compared to Buddha, who was a wise, all knowing monk. The old man shares his beliefs, and lack thereof, to the man. Before they sleep he states: “When we’re all all gone at last then there’ll be nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too. He’ll be out in the road there with nothing to do and nobody to do it to”(173). This quote corroborates with a poem by John Donne called “Death, be not Proud”. In it he writes: “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men… And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” Both quotes show that death is pointless without mankind; he is controlled by the human race. He isn’t eternal and all powerful but weak and maniplable. Death looms over humans, but once he claims you, he is powerless. He has no purpose when there is no life. His “days being numbered” and “Death, thou shalt die” don’t mean a physical death but a mental. His ‘life’ has no meaning, there is nothing left to take in an empty world; so he will be alone and useless on a dying planet.

Both texts show deaths role in life. Readers question what one is without the other because what’s the point? Without death, living would get mundane and lose its risk. Without life there would be no death, which means there would be nothing left. Continue reading →

Looming pressure hanging over you all your life is no way to live. However, I go through it everyday and it is not by choice. At no point in my life have I ever attended a public school and my parents never planned on me attending one either. I had the so called luxury of attending Hebron Academy and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to get away from my parents and their constant nagging. It did not take long for me to realize that even though I am away at school the pressure to do well still hung over me. As I got my first report card as a freshman I took one glance at it and knew my life was over. A couple of A’s and B’s and one C+. The C+ stood out and it seemed as if it was the only thing I could see on the page. I got a text from my mom about an hour later telling me to give her a call. I prepared for the worse and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she drove up to Hebron just to murder me. I told my roommate Chen that if I went missing in the next couple days, tell the cops it was my mom.

As the phone rung I prayed that it would go to voicemail. Sure enough she picked up last second greeting me calmly and asked how I was doing. We talked about the next time I was going home and she somehow slipped in a question about my grades. I told her I got A’s and B’s, but she knew I was lying. She said I forgot to mention that I got a C+. After about 10 minutes of her constantly yelling at me I could only make out a few words. She kept repeating the phrase “Why am I paying all  this money if you could go to school at home for free”. This phrase could sum up my whole high school career up to now because I hear it six times a year and this is exactly how many report cards come out a year.

The pressure is a constant but it comes in different sizes. The pressure usually doesn’t come into full effect until after midterms. That’s usually when I have to work my hardest to get my grades up to my parents expectations. They always tell me that public school is looking better and better everyday. This pushes me, but not as much as it should. I’ve always set my standard to be a little better than average but not great. This way I could get away with doing the bare minimum while still maintaining average grades. I always found excuses but as soon as my sister got to school they were no longer there. My sister set the bar way too high so I lost that drive.

The public school threats could also be known as fear because the concept would be so new to me. I feel like I would be out of place and it would be a step back in my life. This caused me to try and a little bit harder in my classes over the past two terms. All my friends back home call me Hebron and the thought of walking in there would be embarrassing. Even the fear of future pressure has an affect on how I live my life in regard to my parents.

In The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes struggles with the concept that he will never be able to be with Brett Ashley. As the novel goes on, Jake and Brett’s relationship does not change and stays relatively the same. They both love each other but they no they can’t be together. Throughout the novel we witness Jake at his lowest point, but by the end we expect him to finally accept the fact that there is no way he could be with Brett and put everything behind him. This notion however did not last long and at the end of the novel he was face to face with Brett, but this time Jake was no longer begging Brett to live with him.

Jake is a complex character whose past haunts him everyday. When Jake was at war he was injured and could no longer be with a girl sexually. This ultimately results in the death of Jake’s most important manly quality. The fact that he couldn’t please Brett hurt him but there was nothing he could do about it. It was hard for Jake to cope with the realization of the death of his manhood, “I never think about it.” (34 Hemingway). This approach by Jake haunts him because he can never get past it in order to be with Brett. Similarly, Brett’s charm and compassion is overshadowed by the death of her ability to love, at least for long term. Brett has been plagued with a life of misfortune do to her loved ones, for example her first husband use to abuse her and when she got away by going to war she met Jake. However, Jake could not fulfil Brett’s needs do to injury. Brett went on to live a life where she chose not to acknowledge the bad around her. Towards the end of the book she said “I’ll just talk around it.” (Heminway 248). Instead of facing her problems she brushes them off like Jake does with his injury. If they chose to face these problems they could work something out.

Jake couldn’t give up on aspirations to one day be with Brett and throughout the novel he tried persistently to get Brett to live with him. In the beginning of the novel when then they first run into each other, we see Jake’s true emotion come out. In the Taxi, Brett turns away from Jake because she does not want to fall for him. Jake so desperately wants Brett, but he knows he can’t have her. Nonetheless, Jake did not learn his lesson after being turned down the first time. After being stood up by Brett for dinner, he later ran into her when he returned home. When Brett and Jake were alone, Jake said “Couldn’t we live together, Brett. Couldn’t we just live together.” (Hemingway 62). The tone of Jakes voice is desperate. The death of Jake’s manhood prevents him from being with Brett and he has yet to learn to accept it.

In the last chapter of the book we finally get to see Jake realizing that he has to move on with life. While Jake is vacationing by himself in San Sebastian. Jake had a very peaceful time and seemed to be enjoying it. During his time in San Sebastian, Jake goes for a swim out to the dock. As he lay on the dock with no disturbances he decided to go back to shore. Jake said “After a while I stood up, gripped with my toes on the edge of the raft as it tipped with my weight, and dove cleanly and deeply, to come up through the lightening water, blew the salt water out of my head, and swam slowly and steadily in to shore.” (Hemingway 242). The quotes symbolizes Jake diving into water like he is being baptized. This essentially means that he is reborn and put everything behind him. As readers, we finally get to see Jake turning his life around and heading in the right direction without constantly worrying about Brett. When Brett gets back to the hotel he receives a telegram from Brett. Just after reading about how Jake was reborn and put everything behind him, he quickly bought a bus ticket to where Brett was. Jake could not stay away from Brett even though as reader we thought he would finally move on.

The relationship between Brett and Jake did not move past being friends when Jake returned to Hotel Motoya, where Brett was staying. This time however, Jake did not ask Brett to live with him. He gave up on trying to find love with Brett. He was only there for her as a friend and that is all Brett needed. Jake knows now that this is the way it has to be and he has to learn to live without Brett. The happy ending would have been Jake and Brett together, but they are much better friends and need each other because they can’t face their own issues by themselves. This ending suited the claim that Jake’s cyclical nature will always be constant in terms of Brett and if the outcome is they only be friends, he has accepted it and it is only better for both their futures.

The occasional “you won’t” dare goes a long way in defining what kind of morals a person has. Speaking from the perspective of a teenage male these two words have shaped me and my friend group over the course of my life. The definition of “you won’t” means exactly what it looks like and is meant to get whoever you’re with to do something that they don’t have the original courage to do otherwise. Every once in awhile there is the uncommon refusal of the dare and by that point the person who turned it down has been stripped of his masculinity and dignity. There are two crucial rules that come alongside “You won’t”, it can’t be used often, and it can’t put anyones life in danger. Remorsefully, the second rule was broken many times.

It was the summer of ‘15, I had my first job and everything was going great. Me and my friends all got jobs at Haverhill Country Club and nothing could’ve been better. My friend Matt was originally left out, but I talked my boss into giving him a job. Matt wasn’t dealt the best hand in life by any means so this job meant a lot to him. He worked harder than every other employee Haverhill had so he fit in well. Matt and I were finally scheduled to work together which meant I could sit back and relax as I enjoyed watching Matt do all the work. As the day finally came, my plan went accordingly until I got bored sitting down all day.

Every once in awhile you mess up so bad you regret your existence for that day. Well, June 28, 2015 was indeed that day. Matt and I were just starting to close up shop and we went out on the golf course to drive in any extra carts. Then comes the fourteenth hole, out of site from the clubhouse, and a prime location to make a dumb mistake. As Matt got out of the cart I said the famous two words followed by four words that I would have given anything to take back. “You won’t drift on the green” I said to Matt as I looked around making sure no one was around. Matt had an overconfident look on his face that just showed he was destined for a disastrous ending.

As Matt drove his way onto the fringe of the green, I had my snapchat out to capture this moment. He began to pick up speed and started doing donuts around the pin. I was so caught up on how great this video would look on my snap story I failed to realize how the cart was tearing up the grass. I yelled at Matt to stop, but it was too late. As we got back to the clubhouse we were met with a rude awakening from our boss. He asked what happen and I refused to take any responsibility. Matt told my boss that it was my fault and I said I didn’t make him do anything. Matt went on to be fired after two weeks of work and was faced with an expensive bill to repair the greens he had ruined. He asked me if I wanted to chip in for the cost but by no means did I do that because than that would be taking responsibility for someone else’s actions.

This effected my whole summer, and since Matt and I ruined the green it affected every member at the club who wanted to play. As the days went by of me having to watch golfers skip hole fourteen I could no stop thinking about how much went wrong in such little time. Filled with guilt, I apologized to Matt after I thought about what transpired that day. Matt cussed me out multiple times and to this day we are no longer friends. The ripple effect this measly event had made me realize that I have to be more careful in the way I live. This is not the only “You Won’t” incident I have but as I reflect on the others I realize how lucky I am to be alive and well today. I’ve been in car accidents that my parents don’t even know about for that little sense of joy and freedom that rushes through you veins in the prior seconds before anything goes wrong. Nevertheless, those actions taught me valuable lessons on safety but those lessons would be overridden by the urge to step out of your comfort zone following two simple words, “you won’t”.

Throughout the novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, author Stephen Crane uses the setting of different Dance Halls to represent the change of the main character. Crane used this scene to show change like how Hawthorne used the scaffold in The Scarlet Letter to show change. Both settings play a huge role and is the main source of how the authors express the themes of the novel. Every big scene in both novels somehow relates to these two setting because it’s the author’s way of expressing change throughout the novels. These two setting in the two novels are very similar in how Magie and Hester change in during the novel.

In The Scarlet Letter, it started off with Hester and her child Pearl standing up on the scaffold being humiliated by the whole town. This was because Hester committed the crime of adultery. In the crown is Mr. Dimmesdale, watching as his love was being humiliated for a crime he was equally guilty for. As Hester bears the letter A across her chest with the whole town amazed at how beautiful it looks she looks into the crowd only to find her husband, Chillingworth. A sense of evil rushed through Chillingsworth blood as he stood there in shock witnessing the love of his life being shunned for adultery. Hester shows courage standing there alone like how Maggie finally did something out of her comfort zone and went to a dancehall with her boyfriend Pete. Pete takes Maggie to a really nice dancehall where she is impressed but still is independent and doesn’t fully rely on Pete.

Later in the novel, Hester revisits the scaffold scene with the same people, but it is not for her to stand up there. Instead this time it is Dimmesdale who wants to tell the town he is guilty of adultery to rid himself of guilt and remorse. This guilt that is built inside Dimmesdale drives him crazy and he can’t live with it anymore. The most powerful moment in this scene is how Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl all held hands and it was a sense of greatness in the novel. In Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Maggie continues to spend more and more time with Pete and Maggie starts relying more and more on Pete. Magie relying on pete for everything is sad because she fails to notice that ever since they went to the first dancehall the dancehalls that they go to after that become a lot less nice and a lot cheaper. The connection Maggie and Hester share as they revisit these important settings is that they are doing it for love this time. Hester loves Dimmesdale so she wants to make sure he releases his guilt even though he refuses to go up there during the daytime and Maggie fails to realize the quality of the dance halls she is attending.

During the end of the novels we see the author end with the main character revisiting the two most important settings. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne revisits the scaffold with all of the most important characters there. In this scene Dimmesdale finally admits to the crime of adultery and dies off at peace knowing that he confessed his guilt. In Maggie: A Girl of the Streets the ending was sad because Maggie finally gave in to the terrible dance halls and changed for the worse. Instead of being sweet innocent Maggie the last time the reader knows about her she is being carried off by a man only to be found up dead.

These two settings play a role in the beginning, middle, and end of the novels. They show changes in themes and show the changes of each character. The symbolic representation of the Scaffold is significant to telling the story of Hester and how she was courageous to stand up there multiple times not caring what people thought about her. When Maggie first visited the dancehall she was shy and didn’t want anyone to acknowledge her. This changed rapidly because by the end she became a prostitute, going home with different guys every night. These two setting are significant for the readers in order for them to follow along with the plot of the story.

Missing Morals

Society is defined as the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. People are responsible for how society functions and they decide the difference between right and wrong. Society in the 1600’s is a lot different from what it is today based on how the puritans acted in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester was punished for a crime she did commit and if anything they were more moral for her punishment. The crime of adultery is usually punishable by death but they let her and her newborn live. In The Crucible everyone had reason to believe witchcraft was real. The girls and Abigail made it seem like they were witches and since witchcraft was against there religion people had to react. Society now reacts to a lot of things without reason. For example, peaceful protests often turn violent and get out of hand because people have less morals. Society will never be what it was and although it had its flaws, it was still better than what it is today. The difference between then and now is people are over concerned and want to find conflict in everything that happens without reason.

In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible society reacted to the basic crimes of adultery and witchcraft reasonably. A crime is a crime and it shouldn’t go unpunished, “to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 56).  Hester should be looked at as a burden to society for her crime of adultery and she stood out wherever she was because she wore the letter on her chest. All in all, society reacted the way they should have back then. Now, society reacts unreasonably to different circumstances and there are any instances that prove it. For example, the oppression of African Americans in this country is sad, but the way people protest it is wrong and they should react to it differently. Colin Kaepernick made his mark by kneeling for the national anthem. While he took a peaceful stance against this country a lot of people looked at him differently. He divided america into two sides, one who agrees with his actions vs. people who disagree with what he did. Just by kneeling for a national anthem he sparked a nationwide conflict. People who disagree with him think he’s a coward who has no respect for our country. His protest disrespects our military and everyone who has fought to make our country a better place. Society in the 1600’s took Hester’s crime of  adultery and punished her while society now took Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protest and hated him for it. Back then, people found conflict where there was actually conflict as opposed to now where a little protest could spark a nation outrage. A peaceful protester should be punished the same way as someone committing an actual crime. This needs to change or the violence and hatred that fulfils America is going to become a constant that we are going to have to keep living with.

Another example of how we are less moral is the way we accuse people of crimes they did not commit. In The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale committed adultery which put his life in danger. If people found out it was him to begin with instead of not knowing who the father was he would have been killed. Now, police lives are in danger for crimes they did not commit. There are multiple occasions where a police officer murders an African American citizen without reason. This caused people to protest and these protests often turned violent. This caused people to target police officers who had nothing to do with the killings of innocent African Americans.  On July 7, 2016 five police officers were shot and killed in Dallas. This was the outcome of angry civilian over the recent shooting of innocent African Americans. These shootings shows how people found conflict and reacted to it poorly. This is an extreme scenario of a protest turning violent but it isn’t a one time thing. More and more often Police officers are being gunned down for no reason other than belief that it will stop or avenge the people who have lost their lives. People have lost morals over the years if they think murdering police officers solves any problems at all. Mr. Dimmesdale had a reason to be killed even though he wasn’t, he feared for his life everyday hoping someone doesn’t find out his secret. He had total control of his fate because he held on to his secret but he eventually could not take it. Police officers did not have a reason to die. People thought every police officer is racist and target black people. This is a complete false accusation and America would be a much better place if officers were safe and could serve without fearing for their life.

In The Crucible, John Proctor had the right to protest the court for convicting his wife of witchcraft. He admits to a crime he didn’t commit in order to spare Elizabeth’s life. John had to hand in a written confession but he ripped it up so his name isn’t scared in the town. He protests the government by ripping up the confession to make them look like fools. That protest is considered peaceful because it did not do any direct harm to anyone. Now, protest often end in violence in the streets. The riots in Baltimore which put the city in absolute chaos was unnecessary and a lot of people were affected by it. It had a ripple effect on the community as a whole in terms of all the damage that was done to the city. We had more tolerance and self control back then and people knew better than to overreact and cause harm to others.

America now is less moral because the people search for conflict and overreact to it once its found. In the 1600’s they didn’t go out of there way to find it and didn’t cause harm unless it was necessary. Different movements such as Black Lives Matter were the direct result of people in search of a reason to protest. They have many reasons why they should be protesting in search of change with the world but nobody is ever going to get rid of racism entirely. A violent protest is going to make people angry and is unnecessary. Society needs to take a step back and find different ways to solve problems because violent protests have never worked.

Works Cited

“Log in to NewsBank.” Log in to NewsBank. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.  http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15FE2ED5773C2EB8?p=AWNB

“Log in to NewsBank.” Log in to NewsBank. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/15F40BF09A38A198?p=AWNB

God has sent the worst human being on the planet to punish Hester for her crime of adultery in the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He completely ruined Hester’s life. Pearl is the embodiment of sin and has been an outcast to society since the very first day she was born. This punishment torments Hester because whenever she looks at Pearl, it reminds her of what she had done. Hester could never live a satisfying life with Pearl always holding her back. Hester tries to see good in having Pearl around, but it is hard to see good when your child is the devil and its only purpose on earth is to punish you.

Pearl is compared to the devil many times throughout the book and brings embarrassment to Hester who already conveys the scarlet letter. She was often compared to Biblical references regarding the devil. Pearl is referred to as the devil when Hester asks Pearl if she is her child. Pearl says yes but reacted like the devil, “But, while she said it, Pearl laughed and began to dance up and down, with the humorsome gesticulation of a little imp” (Hawthorne 88). An ‘imp’ is a mythological creature often referring to as the devil, so this suggests Hester is being punished by the devil in the form of her daughter. Another instance is how Pearl acts in public. When Hester and Pearl were walking Puritan children wanted to fling mud at them, “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 fight” (Hawthorne 92). Pearl had scared off the Puritan children but brought embarrassment to Hester. Her actions were not necessary and were lunatic. Hester would live a much better life without Pearl, but the devil punished in a unique way, a child who she must put up with for the rest of her life.

Even though Pearl is a demon she still means a lot to Hester. Hester does not believe Peal was sent to punish her, she thinks Pearl wasa gift. Hester believes, “God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child” (Hawthorne 80). Pearl is not seen in the eyes of Hester as being anything bad at all. Pearl also does good for herself sometimes. The second time was when Hester, Pearl, and Mr.Dimmesdale held hands on top of the scaffold, “The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain.”(Hawthorne 138). Mr.Dimmesdale suddenly felt a rush of new life, as if he all his illness suddenly went away at the touch of his daughter’s hand. Although Pearl did these good things, she will always be an antagonist along with Chillingworth in the novel.

Pearl is a living, breathing reminder of her mother’s sin and often makes a point of reminding Hester of the letter. When Pearl and Hester were in the Governor’s Hall, “Pearl pointed upward, also, at a similar picture in the head-piece; smiling at her mother, with the elfish intelligence that was familiar on small physiognomy” (Hawthorne 95). Pearl pointed at the mirror that showed the letter, and Hester told her to stop. Pearl knew that Hester would have a negative reaction to the reflection and did it anyways. Pearl also decorated Hester’s letter with burs. “little Pearl paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock which grew beside the tomb. Taking a handful of these, she arranged them along the lines of the scarlet letter that decorated the maternal bosom, to which the burrs, as their nature was, tenaciously adhered. Hester did not pluck them off” (Hawthorne 120). Pearl took prickly flowers and arranged them on Hester’s A. Hester didn’t even bother with removing them because she knows that Pearl would throw a fit if she removed them.

It would be hard to find any good in Pearl’s existence if she was sent from God as a punishment. The puritans believed what Hester did should have been punishable by death. Death would have been more tolerable to Hester than having to put up with Pearl for the rest of her life. Hester will never be able to live a full and happy life all because she has the burden of Pearl. The A does not hurt as much as she gets older but the pain of having Pearl around sure will.