The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

by Oubliette 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  Oubliette

  [Warning: this post contains spoilers!]

  I've been reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It is really quite an interesting read for us ex- and soon-to-be-ex-JWs, especially if you or a loved one has ever been dealt with judicially by the elders.

  I love the way Hawthorne portrays the main characters:

  Hester Prynne - the wearer of the eponymous red letter "A" is really a hero. Although she has committed the "sin" of adultery, she wears her punishment like a badge of honor as, through the course of the tale, she reclaims her dignity.

  Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale - Her secret co-conspirator, he fails to let his sin be known publicly and hypocritically pretends to be an example of righteousness.

  Hawthorne really gets into the issues of guilt, sin and shame. Among other things, it proves that publicly humiliating people is not only an unnecessarily harsh punishment, it doesn't even accomplish what it is supposed to.

  The book also highlights the hypocrisy of those that go about wagging their heads and clucking their tongues at "sinners" meanwhile they too are guilty of secret sins, but are too cowardly to confess them.

  Written about the overly judgemental Puritan society of Boston in the 17th century, The Scarlet Letter is nonetheless a very relevant analogue for the culture of Jehovah's Witnesses.

  I think every JW should read it!

  Later, I will post some of my favorite quotes from the book, but in the meantime I'd love to hear the thoughts and insights of any of you that have also read the book.
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  designs
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  GoUnion

  I love to read but I must confess I have not done well with so many of the classics. Your post gives me motivation to rectify this mistake.
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  wisdomfrombelow

  I read it in High School and it left an impression decades later. Roger Chillingsworth, Hester's husband, is also an interesting character. I noticed the similarities with Jehovah's Witnesses and their shunning. Perhaps we should wear a scarlet letter D and hold our heads up high and let our manner of life reveal who we are on the inside.
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  Oubliette

  It is a "darkening ... tale of human frailty and sorrow." - Chapter I

  II - The Market-Place: Hawthorne begins with a description of Hester's public humiliation. She is forced to stand on a scaffold in the public square and face an interrogation regarding her crime of adultery. She refuses to name her lover and is forced to remain standing for 3 hours. She is also sentenced to wear a scarlet letter "A" (for adultery) emblazoned on her chest for the rest of her life.

  The townsfolk are described, as "a people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical, and in whose character both were so throughly interfused, that the mildest and the severest acts of public discipline were alike made venerable and awful. Meagre, indeed, and cold, was the sympathy that a tansgressor might look for, from such bystanders at the scaffold."
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  Band on the Run

  It is superbly written. No classic stodginess.
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  snowbird

  *making mental note to re-read The Scarlet Letter*
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  DJS

  I've used references to the 'scarlet letter" numerous times in reference to the Borg's use of "A"-postate. This is one of my favorite books from yester-year.
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  Syme

  Thanks, Oubliette!

  That book had escaped my attention, but now you put me in the right track :)
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  Band on the Run

  It is one of the first American novels. I purchased one of those leather bound editions with nice illustrations.

  I've read Dante's Inferno and John Milton's From Paradise Lost. The writing is exquisite. These works are so old you need a heavily annotated version to understand what is going on.

  Uncle Tom's Cabin is also a good read.