The English Dork Club: A real-time ongoing conversation for Readers, Writers, Thinkers, and Discussers in English 4
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Hester's Shame
"She could no longer brow from the future, to help her through the present grief. To-morrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next; each its own trial" (71). This quote caught my attention when reading because it showed how Hester felt miserable and believed that the rest of her life was going to worse and that each day would be filled with a different grief. Although Hester still had her new born child, it seemed of little reassurance to Hester that she still had someone close to her who she could love. Hester also feels incredibly isolated and alone with no one to understand her.
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When I read this quote I also found it very interesting. I think that you can take two different perspectives based on what is said. One of which being that Hester believes that things will only get worse and remain bad for the rest of her life. On the other hand this quote gives a feeling of "its bad now but it will get better". I think this is a very interesting quote that will lead to an interesting discussion in class tomorrow. A question i have is do you think that Hester believes things will get better as time goes on and more trials occur?
ReplyDeleteI agree, this quote really stands out. You said that although Hester has her newborn baby, she still is miserable and completely alone, but do you think she stays like that? When Pearl grows up does that change or does Hester still feel alone. I think it's really interesting and moving how strong and determined Hester has to be to make it through each day which she calls a trial, in which she gets pointed at and shamed daily. Since Hester is so miserable, do you think she would have rather stayed in jail to escape the social intolerance? It is so sad how much hope Hester has lost, and how miserable getting through each day is.
ReplyDeleteI also thought this quote stood out in the reading. Hester has lost all hope in escaping her loneliness because now all she has is Pearl. Nobody is ever going to look at her the same. ALso, do you think Hester would have rather have to go up on the pedestal everyday? I say this because on page 78 when it says "In all her miserable experience, there was nothing else so awful and so loathsome as this sense". What does this mean? Is it trying to say Hester feels more lonesome now while she is alone at the cabin than she did when she had to stand on the pedestal or be in jail. Yes, she has Pearl, but is that enough?
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