Thematic Study of The Novel The Scarlet Letter

Name                -            Foram Vyas y

Roll no:             -            21

M.A.Part-2       -            Sem-3

Paper                -            02, Ec-303

Paper name     -           American Literature             

      

Topic for assignment  -

Thematic study of the Novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’

Submitted To: Dr.Dilipsir Barad

  Department of English,

  Bhavnagar university,

  Bhavnagar.                  

Topic: - Thematic study of the Novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’

ð    Introduction:-

ü                Nathaniel Hawthorne’s major novels are powerful records of the contemporary puritan society, revealing the contemporary social and religious order that governed at the time.  His novels bring out the conflict between the individual moral values and virtues and social mutuality and ethical codes.  Referring to the element of social ethics in Hawthorne’s novels, Lawrence Sergeant Hall remarks:

            “The moral problem to be found wherever the individual’s maladjustment to society culminates in sin furnished Hawthorne with his major tragic themes.”

ð    Meaning of the Tongue – of Flame:-

ü                The expression ‘tongue of flame’ occurs in the chapter entitles “The Interior of a Heart”.  It refers to the fiery power in the tongue or speech of Dimes dale.  The sincerity and depth of feeling had given to his speech a peculiar force and fire that the public speakers in general conspicuously lack.  He castigated and also condemned the sinners and warned them against God’s fury, retribution and damnation.  He was himself sure to e punished by God and consigned to hell fire.  This bitter consciousness shot forth from his heart in the form of his pulpit speeches.  There was so much of fire, force and venom in his speech that he seemed to be speaking with a ‘tongue of Flame.’

ð    Dimmesdale as a preacher – Sinner:-

ü                Dimmesdale was a Sinner in the garb of a preacher.  The pick and anguish of his daily life of un-confessed sin had given Dimmesdale a tongue.  Flame as a preacher.  The Tongue – Flame, “Symbolized, it would seem, not the power of speech in foreign and unknown languages, but that of addressing the whole human brotherhood in the heart’s native language.”  Dimmesdale’s awareness of his secret sin had made him a more eloquent speaker than he would otherwise be.  Therefore the tongue – of – flame is a paradox; it is a flame which burns and therefore painful; yet it licks the receiver as a mother cat licks its kitten.  It means that the speaker speaks the painful subject of man’s eternal sinfulness but his speech though it torments his listener, also makes the sinful listener aware of his sin, and therefore also makes it possible for him to seek salvation or redemption.

          In the meantime the flame of the fame often Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was increasing rapidly.  This fame was partly caused by the intellectual gifted of the minister; partly it was because of his sorrows.  Common people also regarded him as a miracle of holiness.  They believed that he was the special messenger of God upon this earth.  In their eyes the very ground on which he walked was sacred.  The virgins of the church worshipped him.  The older members of the church believed that he was surely destined for heaven.  Although he had spoken the very truth, but his listeners had interpreted it in an altogether different light.

          The Central theme, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s major novels are powerful records f the contemporary puritan society, revealing the contemporary social and religious order that government at the time.  His novels bring out the conflict between the individual more values and virtues and social morality and ethical codes.  Lawrence Sergeant Hall says,

          “The moral problem to be found wherever the individual’s maladjustment to society culminates in sin furnished Hawthorne with his major tragic themes.”

ð    Redemption of Hester and Dimmesdale:-

ü                However, in the end, both Hester and Dimmesdale are redeemed through repentance, moral courage, resolution and human service.  During the seven years, when she has worn the letter ‘A’, she is instilled with an altruism and love for the sick and downtrodden.”  It is our Hester – the towns own Hester, who is so-kind to the poor, so helpful to sick, so comfortable to the afflicted.”

Sin, knowledge, and the Human Condition

ü              Sin and knowledge are linked in the Judeo – Christian tradition.  The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve, who were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  As a result of their knowledge.  Adam and Eve are made aware of their humanness, that which them from the divine and from other creatures.

ü              The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recall the story of Adam and Eve because in both cases, sin result in expulsion and suffering.  But it also results in knowledge specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human.

ü              For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as “her passport into regions where there women dared not tread,” leading her to “speculate” about her society and herself more “boldly” than anyone else in New England.  As for Dimmesdale, the “burden” of his sin gives him “Sympathy so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrates in unison with theirs.”

ü              The puritan elders, on the other hand, insist on seeing earthly experience as merely an obstacle on the path on the path to haven.   Thus, they view sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and suppressed.  Their answer to Hester’s sin is to ostracize her yet; partition society is stagnant, while Hester and Dimmessale’s experience shows that a state of sinfulness can lead to personal growth, sympathy, and understanding of others paradoxically, these qualities are shows to be incompatible with a state of purity.

ð    The Nature of Evil:

ü                The characters in the novel frequently debate the identify of the “Black Man” the embodiment of evil.  Over the course of the novel, the “Black Man” is associated with Dimmesedale, Chilling worth, Mistress Hibbing; and little pearl is thought by some to be the Devil’s child.

ð    The characters also try to root out the causes of evil

ü                 Chilling worth’s selfishness in marring Hester forces her to the “evil”.  She committed in Dimmesdale’s arms?

          Is Hester and Dimmesdale’s deed responsible for Chilling worth’s transformation into a malevolent being?

ð    Terry Dibble :-

ü                Hatred and love, Hawthorne says, are so close as to seem, philosophically, to be “essentially the same” Hawthorne suggests that in the spiritual world.  “The physician and the minister – mutual victims as they have been – May, unaware, have found their earthly stock of hatred and antipathy transmuted into golden love.”

ü              This confusion over the nature and causes of evil reveals the problems with the puritan conception of sin.  The book argues that true evil arise from the close relationship between hate and love.  As the narrator points out in the novel’s Concluding chapter, both emotions depend upon.

ü              “A high degree of intimacy and heart – knowledge; each renders one individual dependent… upon another.”

          Evil is not found in Hester and Dimmesdale’s lovemaking, or even in the cruel ignorance of the puritan fathers.

          Evil, in its most poisonous form, is found in the carefully plotted and precisely aimed revenge of chilling worth, whose love has been perverted.  Perhaps pearl revenge is not entirely wrong when she thinks Dimmesdale is the “Black Man”, because her father, too, has perverted his love.  Dimmesdale, who should love pearl, will not even publicly acknowledge her.  His cruel denial of love to his own child may be seen as further proper rating evil.

          Thus, the nature of evil is symbolically reflected in different inter- pritations of superstitious and symbolical ‘Black Man’.

·       Dimmesdale is ‘Black Man’ for pearl.

·       Puritan society is Black Man for the love of Dimmesdale and Hester.

·       Chilling worth is black man for the woes and tortures of Dimmesdale and Hester.

ð    Identity and Society :-

ü                After Hester is publicly named and forced by the people of Boston to wear a badge of humanization, her unwillingness to leave the town may seem puzzling.  She is not physically imprisoned and leaving the Massachusetts Bay colony would allow her to remove the scarlet letter and resume a normal life.  Surprisingly, Hester reacts with dismay when chilling worth tells her that the town fathers are considering letting her remove the letter.

ü              Hester’s behavior is premised on her desire to determine her own identify rather than to allow others to determine it for her.  To her, running away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something prom which she desire to escape.  Instead, Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet as a symbol of her own experience and character.  Her past sin is a part of which she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean dyeing a part of her.  Thus, Hester very determinedly integrants her sin into her life.

ü                Dimmesdale also smuggles against a socially determined identity.  As the community’s minister, he is a more symbol than human being.  Expert for chilling worth, those around the minister willfully ignore his obvious anguish, misinterpreting it as holiness.  Unfortunately, Dimmesdale never fully recognizes the truth of what Hester has learned: that individuality and strength are gained by quite self assertion and by a reconfiguration, not a rejection, of one’s assigned identity.

ð    Conclusion :-

ü                The love which Hester Prynne bears towards this man also enhances our admiration of this great minister.  His hunted, emaciated figure cannot be forgotten by any sensitive reader.  By revealing the hidden workings of the mind of Author Dimmesdale, Hawthorne is able to retain our admiration for him.  Real heroism lies in inner torment greatly.  The Temptations which he has to suffer increase his stature as a priest and minister.