My key line from these chapters was "Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary penance, but of her many good deeds since."(147)
Despite reading 4 chapters this weekend i decided that this line was one of the most important regarding the type of people and society that Pearl and Hester live in. This line proved that despite some of the community being judgemental and unforgiving that some people have forgiven Hester for her one sin. It also shows that Hester has done more right than wrong in her life which in Gods eyes makes her forgive. However this line brings up many questions for me. Do the people who have forgiven her not speak out because they are afraid of being judged themselves? Does this make Dimmesdale and the other leaders of the town worse sinners than Hester? Is the reason that Dimmesdale cuts himself and is so weak is because he has realized that if he had spoken out sooner about his relationship would have the people forgiven him sooner? Or does he realize that now people have some what forgiven Hester and he may get a lesser punishment than Hester?
The English Dork Club: A real-time ongoing conversation for Readers, Writers, Thinkers, and Discussers in English 4
I agree, that line shows the townspeople who used to be very harsh on Hester, changing their view of her. the line right after this one "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?.... It is our Hester, the town's own Hester, who is kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!" (147) This line shows even more how they are beginning to really adore Hester despite her big sin she made and despite all the drama she created in the town. i do however disagree with one of the points you made where you said that Hester has done more right than good in her life which in gods eyes make her forgiven. i do think that she has done more good than evil but i don't think that she is forgiven by god. In the next chapter Hester is talking to Roger and he says that he town has that that Hetser has done enough good for her to take off the scarlet letter but she says, "It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge... Were i worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport" (153). In other words Hester is saying that the only way for the letter to come off is if God forgives her and takes it off.
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ReplyDeleteI loved this part of the chapter, because it seems like everyone is just being nicer to Hester. Trey asked if the townspeople who have forgiven her do not speak out because they are afraid of being judged themselves, and although that's a good question, personally I think your missing the point. I think the important part of this is that the people are warming up to her, no longer publicly shaming her, "Day by day nevertheless, their sour and rigid wrinkles were relaxing into something which, in the due course of years, might grow to be an expression of almost benevolence" (147). I think the important thing is that Hester now has hope. She sees the people slowly warming up to her, realizing that although she made a mistake, she still has good intentions and is very kind. Now going off Jacob's point, I disagree with you a little bit also. I do think Hester is sorta saying that to take the scarlet letter off, God would have to forgive her, although I don't think that in her mind, God is who ultimately makes that decision. I don't think Hester has yet to forgive herself, which is why she feels so guilty about Dimmesdale being so miserable and why she still has the scarlet letter on.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what Trey said. I think that the towns people are finally starting to realize that if one person sin's they are not a sinner for their whole life. This was shown because Hester is starting to be looked towards differently and not as a sinner. I think part of the reason for this is because in order to be forgiven by everyone else you have to forgive yourself. Hester has done this because of all the years standing on the scaffold and realizing what everyone else thinks of her. Dimmesdale is still in guilt because he has not forgave himself so it is impossible for outsiders to look at him as a pure soul. the point you said about Dimmesdale hurting himself as a result of not telling everyone earlier is very interesting. When someone finally does something they thought would be scary and it turns out not to be scary they often regret not doing it sonner much like Dimmesdale.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all these statements. Finally, some of the townspeople are beginning to understand that Hester isn't all bad. Yes, she committed a sin in their religion, but seeing that they are starting to realize she isn't an all around awful person it is showing their true character. At the beginning of the story when the "gossips" were trashing Hester, the townspeople seemed like awful people with no sympathy towards her at all, but now that they are seeing who she really is and how kind she is, they are showing that they are able to forgive, even though most of them have not fully forgiven her
ReplyDeleteI also believe that this was an important line in the chapters that we read because it is telling us that things are starting to change for Hester. The townspeople are no longer just focusing on the wrong that she did, but they are starting to finally move past it and realize that she really isn't as bad as they originally made her out to be. As for your question about Dimmsdale thinking that since Hester is starting to be treated better he is realizing that he should have said told the truth sooner as well, I don't really believe this to be true. I don't think that Dimmsdale wants to tell the truth now because Hester has been treated better, I think that all along he wanted to tell the truth but now, after seven years keeping this hidden it has really taken its toll on him and he just wants to get it off his chest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trey's statements about some of the townspeople forgiving Hester. The townspeople begin to see that the actions she has performed over the past seven years since she had reviewed the scarlet letter had been pure hearted and kind. This shows that the townspeoples' punishment of the scarlet letter for Hester to make her feel ashamed turned her into a better person who decided to disregard how society viewed her and helped out the sick and ill townspeople anyway. Although I also wonder whether the townspeople are willing to speak out about Hester being good and changed for the better or are they afraid of standing up for Hester being judged by others int the town?
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