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When reading the story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, I found that there was a little bit of irony. I thought that the narrator’s perspective was fun to read (for lack of a better way to phrase it) and I thought that he had a lot of interesting thoughts that we got to hear through the writing. At the beginning of the reading I began to highlight quotes in which the narrator was describing himself as a person, and later when reading the story, was finding a little bit of irony.

The narrator was a lawyer who was running a law practice and in the very beginning he said that he was an unambitious lawyer (1470). Initially, he had 3 workers helping him in the office and he decided he still needed more help, resulting in him hiring Bartleby. At the beginning, Bartleby seemed ambitious and was producing a lot of work, which was funny to me as the lawyer he was working under had stated himself to be unambitious. The narrator had also pointed out Bartleby’s ambitions saying, “”I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers — ambition and indigestion,” (pg 1472). However, when Bartleby stopped working as much and was “preferring not to do things”, the lawyer wanted him to begin working hard again; which I understood better as wanting to reinstate Bartleby’s ambitions, even while he claimed he was unambitious as a practicing lawyer. 

In addition to wanting to reinstate ambitions, I found it slightly humorous to read about him having conversations trying to get Bartleby to begin working again. One of the very first quotes that I highlighted was when the narrator said, “I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with proud conviction that the easiest way of life is best,” (pg 1460). This quote I thought about a lot when reading conversations between Bartleby and the narrator, as when you think about it, it was easier for Bartleby not to write/do his work, and the narrator had stated he thought the easiest way of life was best. 

Overall, I thought that this story was fun to read, and I found myself finding the conversations between the narrator and Bartleby more funny to read rather than frustrating (the narrator had also stated that he would seldom get frustrated, although when reading the text it seemed to me that he was very often frustrated with Bartleby). But when reading I enjoyed finding little parts of the text, that to me, seemed to have some underlaying irony. 

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Hawthorne’s use of mirroring was most interesting to me because it takes on a lot of different manifestations. Mirrors seem to obtain their power as devices because they can reveal not only a simple reflection but a reframed image. This perspective seems to emphasize characters’ internal conflicts and provide a place for Hawthorne to shift the tone of Hester’s scarlet letter. 

Mr. Dimmesdale would perform vigils where he would view “his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it” (505). However, the reflection yields to more supernatural and paranoid visions. First “it was a herd of diabolic shapes, that grinned and mocked at the pale minister, and beckoned him away with them” (505) which suggests that there is a temptation in the minister to yield to the darkness/devil/Satan.  Then it was a “group of angels, who flew upward heavily […] but grew more ethereal as they rose” (505) which suggests his future and possibly the hope that Heaven will still accept him (even if he is heavy with a burden). Furthermore, the latter part of the image seems to allude to the ever-increasing fame and loyalty that the community was putting towards him (to some he was a living manifestation of the divine). The mirror is acting as a window into his future or a reflection of a truer self that he cannot see. However, in either interpretation, his internal conflict is being put on display.

Additionally, Pearl often sees reflections of herself in the water. Out of a tide pool “peeped…with dark, glistening curls around her head, and an elf-smile in her eyes, the image of a little maid” (517). A description that is often used for Pearl, but which at the moment seems to be separate from Pearl. More importantly, this reflection “beckoned likewise, as if to say, – ‘This is a better place! Come thou into the pool!’” (517) which is similar to the diabolical shapes of Dimmesdale’s vision. Is it that the little maid is the devil reaching out to Pearl? Or is it just the wild imagination that Pearl has developed over her years of isolation? The brook in the forest provides an alternative experience for Pearl, where “a perfect image of her little figure, with all the brilliant picturesqueness of her beauty” was reflected (539). Here, the reflection is Pearl’s but “more refined and spiritualized than the reality” (539) which creates a doubt in her devilish qualities. These two different reflections seem to suggest that within Pearl are two fighting personalities. 

Furthermore, there was mirroring in the cyclical nature of the novel’s plot. The setting of the scaffolding among a wide audience is how Hawthorne chooses to start and end the novel, yet the end presents a new interpretation for Hester’s original sin (which is how we start). The mirroring of the scenes is not static but reframes Hester’s introduction. The scarlet letter, while not something to be proud of, transforms into something that no one could have imagined and definitely not what it was intended. To get to this scene, the reader has seen how Hester does not allow the scarlet letter to hold her down, rather she forms her life around it and spends all her time becoming a better person (as to say that she will not only be defined by the letter/her sin). This moment allows for everyone to re-evaluate their own opinions of Hester and to sympathize with her. 

Loading Likes... To be completely honest I was a little disappointed with how heavy the foreshadowing was that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father. To be completely fair, I was keeping an eye out for it since we had mentioned heavy foreshadowing during class on Tuesday, however I wasn’t expecting to figure it out about three pages into the next section. From the moment the narrator discussed Chillingworth’s determination to figure out Dimmesdale’s secret, I had a feeling that he was the father. In terms of the plot, the biggest (and only) secret to uncover was the mystery of the father. Furthermore, calling Chillingworth the leech as he leeches the life out of Dimmesdale wasn’t particularly subtle either.

I think it’s really interesting that the foreshadowing is so heavy handed given Hawthorne’s dedication to symbols and creating a literary novel. Thinking about it though, I’m not entirely sure most of his symbols are particularly subtle either.

Loading Likes... I focused particularly on the scene in which Mr. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl stand on the scaffold together, following which Mr. Dimmesdale and Hester experienced a momentary transformation of their shame into sympathy from others. While on the scaffold, Mr. Dimmesdale’s hand on his heart and Hester’s letter serve as poignant reminders of their shame, the notion of Pearl serving as a “connecting link” (510) between the two as the sun rose served as a shift in their sentiments toward their situation. Culminating with a meteorological phenomena of light (a recurring image of epiphany within Dimmesdale and Hester’s relationship) and the entrance of Roger Chillingworth, the shared experience of standing on the scaffold, once in darkness and then in light, seems to mark a release in the pent-up guilt shared by Dimmesdale and Hester.
Immediately after the scaffold scene, Mr. Dimmesdale delivers a sermon that “was held to be the richest and most powerful, and the most replete with more souls than one, that had ever proceeded from his lips” (512). Only after trying to expose himself on the scaffold and bask in his guilt does the minister reach the souls of others. The power of his words stretching into the hearts of others reinforces a margin of success in his goal of repenting such sin, but quickly dissipates when his glove is returned under the idea of Satan having put it on the scaffold. Each gain in his own experience as a minister is undercut by the persistence of his guilt. While trying to distance himself from standing on the scaffold as a “visionary” night (512), the truth of Dimmesdale’s misdeeds follows him. Ultimately, such shame and secrecy proves to factor into his end.
While Dimmesdale evokes sympathy from his congregation after facing his guilt (if only for a moment) by standing alongside Hester and Pearl, Hester’s reputation develops into a more aiding figure. The transformation of “Such helpfulness was found in her… that many people refused to interpret the Scarlet A by its original signification. They said it meant Able…” (514). While Hester remains largely unchanged in her behavior, not even acknowledging the shift around her, society transforms her from its victim to another member, a more subtle change as Hester’s suffering subsides with new sympathy rather than heighten, as Dimmesdale’s does.

Loading Likes... When Hester first removes the scarlet letter while planning her escape with the minister in the woods she seems to miraculously transform from a wearied hag into a tremendously beautiful maiden. She takes her hair out from her hat, allowing its thick strands to fall upon her shoulders and the youth she once possessed seems to reinvigorate her as her womanly passions come flowing back in. Hawthorne writes, “Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty, came back from what men call the irrevocable past, and clustered themselves, with her maiden hope, and a happiness before unknown, within the magic circle of this hour. And, as if the gloom of the earth and sky had been but the effluence of these two mortal hearts, it vanished with their sorrow” (536). I found the reinvigoration of Hester’s beauty as a result of the removal of the letter fascinating. This book was written within a Puritan society that would have condemned passion as sinful, and thus, I would have assumed that the blossoming of passions, as this scene demonstrates, would tamper Hester’s beauty. Instead it does the opposite. THis scene almost crafts the Scarlet Letter to be not just a stain on Hester’s virtue, but a weight that drains her of her life, when the punishment, if anything, should be guiding her towards godliness and repentance. I would be curious to know if this was Hawthorne’s intention to show Hester as sinful without the letter, but rather as free and youthful with a life in front of her due to the condemning connotations it attributes to their society’s punishments rather than to Hester’s wanton sinfulness.

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Something I found interesting about the ending of The Scarlet Letter is the contrast between the fate of Hester and that of Mr. Dimmesdale. While throughout the novel Hester has been shunned and looked down upon by the townspeople, in the end she is accepted. Knowing that “Hester Prynne had no selfish ends” the townspeople would to come to her and she “comforted and counseled them” (568). Meanwhile, Mr. Dimmesdale ends up dead, weighed down by the guilt of concealing his affair.

The novel seems to suggest that the concealment of sin is as bad as the sin itself. Hester does not hide the fact of her adultery, even after Pearl has grown up and left the town. After a while, as a result of Hester’s kind nature, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness” (568). This suggests that because Hester is willing to accept the consequences of her sin, she is able to move on with her life. Mr. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is characterized by his secrecy, as it takes him many years to admit that he is Pearl’s father. This secret takes its toll on him, and he describes “this burning torture to bear upon my breast” (565). Mr. Dimmesdale has committed a double sin, being both an adulterer and a clergyman lying about his adultery. Therefore, though he and Hester both committed the same initial sin, his concealment has made his sin grow even worse. This novel seems to suggest that, even though it is tempting to hide one’s sin, in the long run it’s better to admit to it. 

Loading Likes... From the very first pages of The Scarlett Letter, there is an interesting discussion that emerges around the justice system and whether or not it is effective. In Chapter 2, Hawthorne explains that culprits of crimes often face a legal tribunal that only “confirmed the verdict of the public sentiment” (pg 452). He almost immediately criticizes the spectators of the event as “people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical” (pg 453). Through the narration and portrayal of the spectators, Hawthorne already suggests that religion and the law should not mix.

The quote that the tribunal only confirms the public sentiment stuck out to me because I feel as if it is a critique that could be made of the modern day justice system as well. While we may have advanced technologically since The Scarlett Letter was written, justice seems to be a difficult topic to tackle. There are still complaints about the separation of religion from the justice system as well as how various laws treat with women and childbirth. Even outside of the legal system, there is still the court of public opinion that people must face if they, like Hester, have done something that goes against community values.

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This was my first time reading “The Scarlet Letter.” I didn’t have the opportunity to read it in high school, so I went into this with an open mind. While the actual story is full of important themes like sins, human nature, and starting new, I found the first chapter, The Custom-House, to be very interesting because it is Hawthorne’s own voice.

Something that really stuck out to me was how Hawthorne wrote about finding his home in the world. He speaks a lot about his internal battle with his home in Salem. I found it interesting how divided he was in his thinking. He explained that there was something about Salem that called to him and how he “felt it almost a destiny to make Salem my home” (431). However, at the same time, he feels that if someone stays in the same place for too long, it can become detrimental and “human nature will not flourish, more than a potato” (431). 

I found this dichotomy between what Hawthorne considers to be his home and also what he believes is helpful for human nature in everyone finding their own home interesting. He gets very philosophical and begins connecting nature and humans as he tries to explain how humans can thrive on the earth. Finding home is such a human instinct because one feels safe and protected at home. However, at the same time, one must not cut themselves off from opportunities that may be in other spaces or with different people.

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In the introduction to The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel Hawthorne gives the reader an inside look at his writing process and motivation to create this story, very similar to the way Edgar Allan Poe exposes his procedure in “The Philosophy of Composition”(1846). This way of introducing a work gives the reader the context of the text in the author’s mind, and makes the author’s intentions much clearer.

Hawthorne uses these pages to tell about his break from the literary scene in which he worked in a Custom-House where he found the documents that prompted the idea of this plot but not the inspiration to write, and his eventual return to writing where the ideas allowed themselves to be written. He presents the relevant facts of his experience, and introduces the reader to the mystery of the scarlet letter, which gets them curious about the rest of the text. 

This is very similar to the way Poe published a break down of how he wrote “The Raven” four years earlier. Poe explains everything from how he decided upon the length of the poem to how he came to the refrain “nevermore”. He makes his writing seem more like a mathematical formula than artwork.

This idea of writing being a process, something that the public can see and understand directly goes against the ideas of Emerson, who seems to see writing as a work of genius, requiring a sort of insight that is divinely granted. It is logical that Poe would so openly contradict one of the most influential writers of the time, as he goes as far as calling out “the so called poetry of the so called transcendentalists.” But Hawthorne associated with the transcendentalists. He references both Emerson and Thoreau, and notes that he is taking some time away from their circle. 

It seems that something must have occurred to prompt such a decisive break, a change of career, and shift in philosophy. I hope to uncover more about this pivot in further research.

 

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I found that the Introduction to “The Scarlet Letter” to be particularly interesting because of its mentions and connections to things that Emerson talked about in his essays. There was specific talk about humans and nature that are interesting to compare to Emerson’s works. 

On page 437 part of a passage says, “[…] nor does nature adorn the human ruin with blossoms of new beauty.” Reading this sentence I thought of Emerson’s ideas of nature and its connection to a spiritual world. The idea behind the quote that nature is not able to make “human ruin” more attractive with a blossom of new beauty. Emerson talks a lot about connecting with nature and viewing nature in a progressive way. When discussing that he wishes to indicate the position of nature in regard to man he says, “nature is so pervaded with human life, that there is something of humanity in all,” (pg 205). Comparing and contrasting these two quotes, the Introduction to the Scarlet Letter takes a less progressive approach to nature, and separates in from human beings in a way that’s opposite of Emerson’s description of nature and humans being intertwined. Emerson makes the statement that, “the world proceeds from the same spirit of the body of man,” (pg 205). The points that Emerson make about nature are more progressive than the thoughts of The Custom House. 

Additionally, another quote which I found interesting was on page 440 when it says, “Nature, –except it were human nature, –the nature that is developed in earth and sky, was, in one sense, hidden from me; and all the imaginative delight, wherewith it had been spiritualized, passed away out of my mind.” This is interesting compared to Emerson discussing the ways that he was a “lover of uncontained and immortal beauty and how he talks about the spiritualization of nature as something that he is incredibly in tune with and is on his mind more so than the narrator describing nature/earth as being hidden from him. 

Another interesting quote to compare to the works of Emerson was on page 448 when it says, “for a man who felt it to be the best definition of happiness to live through the whole range of his faculties and sensibilities.” Emerson portrayed the message that people must believe in their intuition. He wanted people to follow their conscience, relating to the idea that for the best definition of happiness someone should rely on himself for sensibility.

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As I read “The Custom-House” and the assigned pages of The Scarlet Letter, I found myself intrigued by the motif of “soil” as symbolic of ancestry, death versus rebirth, purity versus sin, etc. Hawthorne first introduces soil imagery in “The Custom-House” when he suggests a mystical relationship between the individual and the place where his ancestors’ “deep and aged roots…struck into the soil,” and specifically describes his own experience of “attachment” to Salem, where his own ancestor, William Hathorne, “mingled their earthy substance with the soil” (429). For Hawthorne, “the spell survives” through generations. This is not necessarily an original or even remarkable metaphor on its own, but Hawthorne extends it a few pages later: Hawthorne suggests that his ancestor, William Hathorne’s, “hard severity” and “persecuting spirit” in some way diseased the “old trunk of the family tree” (430). He concludes this metaphor by contending that although he finds himself drawn to this “natal soil,” “the connection” is “an unhealthy one,” and that “human nature will not flourish…if it be planted and replanted…in the same worn-out soil” (431). 

I recalled this passage when the soil imagery reappeared in chapter five of The Scarlet Letter. Here, Hawthorne ponders Hester’s decision to remain in Salem despite her ostracization from the rest of the pilgrims, stewing in her shameful reputation. He suggests that some “force of doom” binds her to the city, as “her sin, her ignominy, were the roots which she had stuck into the soil” (469). This parallels, strangely, the notion of Hawthorne’s ancestor, William, lodging his own family tree into Salem’s history through the cruel deeds of his lifetime. Hawthorne seems to believe that this casts some sort of strange spell on the future generations (ironic given the Salem Witch Trials), condemning them to a life of bondage to the “natal earth” (431) if they cannot somehow atone for the ancestors’ unresolved sins. Has Hester’s adultery subjected her daughter, Pearl, to some “ghost-like” (469) manifestation of her sin that chains them to Salem, pending some repentance? Could this “evil spirit [that] possessed the child” (478) possibly be unrelated to the “mystic shadow” (470) attached to the isolated dwelling of Hester and Pearl? What’s more striking is Hawthorne’s characterization of their house, whose surrounding “soil…was too sterile for cultivation” (470). I cannot consider this detail independent of Hawthorne’s metaphor in “The Custom-House” that suggests that “human nature will not flourish” in “worn-out soil,” and that the later generations should move elsewhere despite their pull to this “soil” (cited above). So what does all this mean? How does this connect to the rose bush near the prison referenced in the beginning of the novel, or to Governor Bellingham’s vegetable garden that will never achieve “the native English taste for ornamental gardening” (484)? Could this recurring “mystical soil” allude to a commentary on the history of Salem and its English, Puritan pilgims – perhaps even to its service as “poisoned soil” in which the later Salem Witch Trials “took root?” 

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Hester Prynne, and specifically her scarlet letter, exemplifies the Puritan perspective on women’s easily tainted natures that can remain hidden from the public. I was intrigued by the idea that Hester Prynne served to justify the weak moral character of all women. Throughout the reading, the narrator speaks to Hester’s complete loss of individuality where she begins to stand for the idea that women’s natures are more susceptible to sin. They argue, that “throughout them all, giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passions” (Hawthorne, 469). Her behavior was used as an example when one was speaking about women in general. Furthermore, there is a lot of anxiety from the other women in the town to even look at the scarlet letter on Hester’s chest; one would be corrupted by a quick glance. From the first chapter, the women of the town wished to punish Hester more harshly than the men as she had, “brought shame upon [them] all, and ought to die” (Hawthorne, 454). Hester could not be viewed as an individual who committed a crime but was thought to represent all women. Hester Prynne starts to doubt the nature of women herself from wearing her scarlet letter. She begins to discuss the idea that her letter has given her a sense of seeing others’ invisible scarlet letters. With suspicion that the devil was corrupting her, she started to believe the “outward guise of purity was but a lie, and that, if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynne’s” (Hawthorne, 473). Her own wearing of the scarlet letter makes her skeptical of the character of all the women around her. Ultimately, The Scarlet Letter has given further insight into the anxiety that surrounds being a Puritan woman. 

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Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the narrator constantly reminds us of the Puritan culture which governs most of the themes of the story, including sin. The crux of the story relies on a population that values purity above all else and condemns Hester for committing an act of sin that has been banned by law. To this community, their law relies on both “the Scripture and the statute book” (454) which I think shows the fundamental structure of their society and how they govern themselves. In understanding the importance of Puritan culture to this narrative, I found myself interested in how the narrator introduces characters by their appearance, particularly women. The narrator even goes so far as to describe that “morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fibre in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding (453).” From this quote, the narrator immediately correlates the strength of the morality of the women in this community with the solidity of their features/appearance. It becomes clear that the descriptions of the appearances of each woman are important to focus on as metaphors of their moral fiber. 

For example, he describes one woman who wants to condemn Hester to death as “the ugliest as well as the most pitiless (454)” and another as a “hard-featured dame (453).” On the other hand, all the descriptions of Hester’s appearance focus on her intangible beauty that, although she is shrouded in sin, so to speak, is undeniable. He describes her as “a figure of perfect elegance” and and although she was in sin, “her beauty shone out (455).” I am particularly interested in these descriptions because while normally a woman’s elegance and fairness would be in direct correlation with high morality, in this case, the more “lady-like” a woman is such as Hester, the lower their moral fiber. I think this reversal really shows the Puritan themes throughout the book which equate beauty in a woman with sin, and “plainness” with piety. 

Loading Likes... While reading, I found Pearl to be an incredibly intriguing character that often reflected the themes and issues at play in the story. Her very existence is the origin of the conflict in the book, as she is the physical manifestation of sin that creates her mother’s public shame. In many ways, she is the embodiment of her Mother’s guilt. One passage that struck me was in chapter 19, when she doesn’t recognize her mother without her scarlet A on. Without it, Hester appears to lighten, takes her hair down, and looks beautiful and rid of the sad cloud that the A brings. However, Pearl and her reflection in the brook are not happy with her mother looking this way. In fact, she refuses to come near her mother until she replaces the A on her chest, to which Pearl says “Now thou art my mother indeed!” and kisses the scarlet letter much to her mother’s dismay.
I found this scene between the mother and daughter to be so interesting, because Pearl only has known her mother with the mark of shame on, and loves her as she is when she wears it. However, Pearl’s assertion of this also seems sinister as her mother becomes visibly less beautiful, happy, and warm as the “withering spell” of the sad letter takes over her. Pearl’s mystical quality contributes to the feeling that she has a mysterious role taking on the shame and guilt of her Mother and embodying it, like a mirror. On the other hand, she is one of the only characters that is not distressed by her mother’s shame: in fact, she loves it because it is a part of her.

Loading Likes... One thing that struck me while reading Narrative of the Life was the extreme attention to detail that Douglass had to afford to every single story he put forth in his autobiography. When you consider the context of his audience at the time of publishing, it’s surprising that he went into so much detail about matters that would actually be very familiar to a white and black American audience. The experiences he talks about, and their extension to larger societal structures at play at the time, were widely known and accepted social conventions. For example, the assertion that if he had been murdered with only black people as witnesses, “their testimony combined would have been insufficient to have arrested one of the murderers” (1215) was not a surprising or unique statement at the time; black people were regarded as sub-human, and not capable of intelligence or authority by white society in this time. However, by painting the vivid picture of this experience he had, and stating this horrible inequality in plain terms, he commands authority and attention to these horrible facts, which is incredibly brave to do in a society that aims to erase and placate them.