Difficulty Paper #1

Difficulty Paper on The Scarlet Letter

            The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a very dark and intense book. I enjoy reading this book because it talks about the life and believes of the Puritan people and how they were easy to judge those who sinned, like Hester Prynne. Puritans were supposed to be good people so anybody who was involved in any immoral action was looked upon and agonized by everyone else, for instance how the townspeople harassed both Pearl and Hester. They also seemed to focus on Hester’s sin rather than to focus on their own. Just like this book grabs my attention, it confuses me a lot sometimes as well. The hardest thing for me is the Old English Nathaniel Hawthorne uses.

            The novel is written in Old English and although some of it is pretty easy to understand, there are other concepts that are harder to grasp. I noticed that throughout the novel instead of focusing on what was actually happening in the scenes I was concentrated on the old English. I would look at the words that were used decades ago and I would try to come up with words that are used today and that worked for a while because it was easier to understand a sentence with words I was familiar with. But as I kept reading the novel, I noticed that I was just focusing on the words connotation and it was just distracting me from the novel itself.

            The first chapter, The Custom House, was probably the hardest chapter in the entire novel and the one that discouraged me the most. This chapter was also what led me to use Spark notes because for some reason I just couldn’t pay attention on what I was reading. I would start spacing out and I had to stop reading it several times because I just couldn’t focus. Since the first chapter seemed super boring to me I though the whole book was going to be the same but as the story developed, it became more intense and interesting.  

            I remember using Spark notes back in High School, so I decided to use them for this novel. For one, Spark notes is way easier to understand and they have just the right amount of summary for each chapter; Spark notes just goes over the main points in the chapter but it was still helpful to read them because I found out that I would miss some important details from a chapter. There were also times when I interpreted the text differently or I just plain out didn’t get it and the summary’s brought me back and kept me on track. There are quizzes after each chapter in Spark notes so I would try to do them before reading the summary’s there so I could see if I got the concept of the chapter. I would then read the summaries and then I would try to do the quiz again so that I could see what part I did and didn’t understand.

final draft

Ana Cerda

Instructor Knapp

English 1B

May 12, 2010

Through a Formalist Perspective

            Possessed: spurred or moved by a strong feeling, madness, or a super natural power… I have analyzed The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, through a Formalist Perspective and there are many things that have captured my attention. “Possessed” seems to be a word of great interest because it is used throughout the novel, and mainly used by the Puritan people to describe Pearl. Symbolism is a key factor that both affects and gives the novel a whole new meaning; the actual scarlet letter A, sunshine, the Black Man, the meteor, Pearl, and the forest are some of the many symbols that helped shape the book. Nathaniel Hawthorne used tension to contribute to the novel’s ambiguity, and symbolism throughout the story to show the believes of Puritan people and how they were highly against evil.

            Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne’s husband, sent her away to America with a promise that he would soon meet up with her. He was captured by Native Americans before he could go to America, and when he was finally set free and in Massachusetts looking for Hester, he found out that she was being accused of adultery. The townspeople knew about Hester’s marriage and that her husband probably died on sea, since he never joined her, so instead of having Hester die they sentenced her to wear a piece of fabric on her chest. She was to wear an A, for “adulterer” on her bosom for the rest of her life. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, but received no public humiliation because Hester refused to give up the name of her accomplice. Chillingworth ends up staying in Massachusetts but his priority and main focus is to get Hester to confess the name of the other sinner and by doing so, he begins to further torment her and Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is forced to live with this guilt and before dying, in the end of the novel, he ends up confessing that he is in fact Pearls father. Chillingworth dies a year after since he no longer has someone to torment, and ends up leaving all his fortune to Pearl. Hester continued to live in the town and although she was no longer forced to wear the A she still kept it on until the day of her death.

In Puritans, John F. Wilson stated that “Puritans emphasized Bible reading, prayer, and preaching in worship services… they stressed grace, devotion, prayer, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue” (Wilson). Puritans were involved in religious activities like praying and preaching because they were very religious people and they believed that they had to do these practices in order to live a good life. They opposed all wrongdoing and made sure to badger and punish anyone who was involved in any sort of evil action.  Puritans also used symbols to control society and interpreted these same symbols as signs sent from God.

Hester Prynne was looked upon for committing “adultery” by the townspeople because of this same reason. She broke the law the day she slept with Dimmesdale and was therefore forced to wear the A on her chest. Pearl also became their target because she was the living proof and the reminder of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin. One of the townsman stated “thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone” (Hawthorne 98). Hester was the one forced to wear the A on her bosom but both she and Pearl became the ridicule of the town and the Puritan people were so harsh to them because sin was seen as something evil, and evil was forbidden.

The novels structure contributes to the tension and ambiguity of The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne creates mystery by making the readers wonder certain things, like who is Pearl’s father. He lets us know that Dimmesdale feels some guilt for something he did but doesn’t state what it is; Hawthorne reveals that Dimmesdale is Pearls father until later on in the story. In one of the scenes, Dimmesdale asked Hester, “Has thou found peace?” and when Hester asks him that same question he answers, “None—nothing but despair! What else could I look for, being what I am, and leading such life as mine?” (Hawthorne 302). Hawthorne creates mystery and it is not clear, until the last chapters, that Dimmesdale’s guilt has something to do with Hester’s sin. In this same scene, the Reverend assures Hester that he is suffering more than her because although everyone in the town harasses her and Pearl, they are aware of her sin but Dimmesdale can’t move on with his life because he keeps bottling that secret.

Dimmesdale’s remorse gets the best of him and he starts doing things that later begin to affect his health. His guilt increases throughout the novel and he then begins to do certain things to release that guilt, things like whipping himself and fasting. He lives a conflict and seems to become two different people during night and day. During the day, he hides his secret and walks around as though nothing is wrong with him, the guilt is there but he just doesn’t show it as much. He acts in a way that he knows he will be socially accepted by the townspeople. Once the night comes though, he becomes a different person and starts punishing himself but in a discrete way so no one will notice. The Reverend’s mentality completely changes and his sin doesn’t let him live in peace, “and the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system. It had stupefied all blessed impulses, and awakened into vivid life the whole brotherhood of bad ones” (Hawthorne 350). He feels tempted to say things that will offend others and one night he even goes to the same scaffold where Hester was publicly shamed to confess his sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a lot of symbols throughout the story and most of them have a dark connotation. The Scarlet Letter A, is the symbol of sin and shame and it was meant to stand for “Adulterer”. When asked about Hester’s sin, a townsman states, “… they have doomed Mistress Prynne only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then and thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 98). Not only would the townspeople attack Hester every time they could but they served as reminders along with the scarlet letter.

“Mother” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something in your bosom… I am but a child. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!” (Hawthorne 290). Pearl’s lack of understanding what the scarlet letter represents or the meaning behind it forces her to ask questions that only she can see. She is the closest person to Hester and the only one that can see what her mom really feels; Hester acts tough and put together when she is around the townspeople but inside and around Pearl she shows how much she’s hurting. Pearl sees the sunshine as a symbol and a metaphor of happiness, something she knows Hester lacks. Hester doesn’t have enough sunshine in her life because of the sin she committed but since Pearl is young she is still innocent. Although Pearl both questions and is intrigued by the scarlet letter, she understands that not all women are supposed to have that A on their chest and that having sins is part of human nature.

Unlike the rest of the objects used to bring shame to Hester, Pearl was the baby created by that same sin. Pearl herself “…sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion” (Hawthorne 138). And although everyone in the town considered Pearl the very proof of her sin and something inhuman, she meant everything to Hester. “’Pearl’ as being of great price, -- purchased with all she had, -- her mother’s only treasure!” (Hawthorne 138). Pearl was basically the only person close to Hester and even though everybody saw her as diabolical because she was created by a sin and she seemed different to all the Puritans, Hester protected and cared for her.

After the death of Governor Bellingham, a meteor was formed the shape of an A. “Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena…as so many revelations from a supernatural source” (Hawthorne 242). Puritans were big believers of those things, so when the A appeared on the sky, many people thought the A stood for “angel” and that it was a sign that the Governor was in heaven now. Wilson also states “Some went above their daily lives living in uncertainty whether God had selected them for eternal salvation or condemned them to eternal damnation” (Wilson). The townspeople interpreted the A differently and many thought that it was a sign from God and that he was trying to warn them of any future tragedy’s. Others like Dimmesdale thought that the A was meant for him since he too committed a sin and stood quiet about the whole thing.

The meaning of the Scarlet Letter drastically changed throughout the story. At first, The A was meant to stand for “Adulterer” and its main purpose was to bring great shame to Hester. Everyone in the town made sure to offend Hester and even Pearl because they were so against sin. Slowly but surely that A started changing and people began to think that the scarlet letter had another meaning and that maybe it didn’t stand for “Adulterer” but for “Able”. Hester didn’t like the fact that she sinned, but unlike Dimmesdale, she accepted her sins and moved on with her life.

“It was perceived, too, that, while Hester never put forward even the humblest title to share in the world’s privileges, -- farther than to breath the common air, and earn daily bread for little Pearl and herself by the faithful labor of her hands...” (Hawthorne 252). Hester didn’t live in pity and she didn’t let the scarlet letter stand in her way or by any chance hold her back from supporting Pearl and herself. The scarlet letter made her lack some sense of happiness but it didn’t prevent her from economically supporting Pearl, and the whole experience made her a stronger person. The town saw shame in Hester because of her sin and as the story progressed the scarlet letter not only changed meaning but the townspeople felt a sense of pride in Hester. Many looked up to her towards the end of the novel because she went through many barriers to accomplished great things.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel based on Puritans and their beliefs. They mocked and publicly shamed others that sinned and pointed out their flaws as a way of saving themselves and not admitting to their own sins. Hawthorne’s used symbolism to show Puritan beliefs and the tension throughout the novel helped structure the whole structure and it created ambiguity.

revised analysis

            The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story that really struck me because I realized how women were treated depending on the time period they were in. Now days women are more equal and independent, where as in the late 1800’s, women were looked down upon and did everything their husbands asked them to do, just like the protagonist of the story did with her husband, John. It is very apparent that the protagonist is going through some sort of depression and because John is “a physician of high standing” she listens to everything her husband tells her.

John and his wife rented a mansion for about three months because their original home was going through some sort of renovation. At first the protagonist sees this rental mansion as “the most beautiful place!” and likes everything about it. In her writing, she shows great enthusiasm about her and her husband’s new temporary home and she loves most of the things that come with it, like the “delicious garden.” Everything except the yellow painting that came along with one of the rooms, a room she and John ended up using as their bedroom. It was sad to see that the protagonist, didn’t have a say in something as simple as picking a room or changing the color of the room. John was aware of the disconfort his wife had while being in the room and she clearly told him that the wall paper was the main issue that got her to feel this way, “but John would not hear of it.”

John to be sincere about his love for his wife but ironically is controlling over the activities his wife does dat he doesn’t even let her do the things that she enjoys doing. In the beginning, the protagonist states that she enjoys writing but that “…he hates to have me write a word.” She suddenly stops writing when ever John or his siter, Jannie are around. She is also “absolutely forbidden to work” or even see her own baby. “Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him…” She follows all of John instructions and although she does not agree with most of the things he says, she still chooses to obey.

The yellow paper both shows a pattern of the trapped woman and plays a huge roll in this womans life and it comes to the point where all she thinks of is this wallpaper. The protagonist begins to notice a certain odor all over the house, a scent she later describes as “a yellow smell.” She also sees a trapped woman in the yellow wallpaper that “gets out in the daytime.” Earlier in the story she also asks John if she could go visit cousin Henry and Julia but John opposes it every time because he wants her to get better before letting her visit. This trapped woman symbolizes how the protagonist really feels about her life. John doesn’t let her do anything or go out anywhere and the only place she actuallyspends all her time in is the room, but because she is basically forced to stay there.

the yellow wallpaper

            The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story that really struck me because I realized how women were treated depending on the time period they were in. Now days women are more equal and independent, where as in the late 1800’s, women were looked down upon and did everything their husbands asked them to do, just like the protagonist of the story did with her husband, John. It is very apparent that the protagonist is going through some sort of depression and because John is “a physician of high standing” she listens to everything her husband tells her.

John and his wife rented a mansion for about three months because their original home was going through some sort of renovation. At first the protagonist sees this rental mansion as “the most beautiful place!” and likes everything about it. In her writing, she shows great enthusiasm about her and her husband’s new temporary home and she loves most of the things that come with it, like the “delicious garden.” Everything except the yellow painting that came along with one of the rooms, a room she and John ended up using as their bedroom. It was sad to see that the protagonist, didn’t have a say in something as simple as picking a room or changing the color of the room. John was aware of the disconfort his wife had while being in the room and she clearly told him that the wall paper was the main issue that got her to feel this way, “but John would not hear of it.”

John is so controling over the activities his wife does dat he doesn’t even let her do the things that she enjoys doing. In the beginning, the protagonist states that she enjoys writing but that “…he hates to have me write a word.” She suddenly stops writing when ever John or his siter, Jannie are around. She is also “absolutely forbidden to work” or even see her own baby. “Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him…” She follows all of John instructions and although she does not agree with most of the things he says, she still chooses to obey.

The yellow paper plays a huge roll in this womans life and it comes to the point where all she thinks of is this wallpaper. The protagonist begins to notice a certain odor all over the house, a scent she later describes as “a yellow smell.” She also sees a trapped woman in the yellow wallpaper that “gets out in the daytime.” Earlier in the story she also asks John if she could go visit cousin Henry and Julia but John opposes it every time because he wants her to get better before letting her visit. This trapped woman symbolizes how the protagonist really feels about her life. John doesn’t let her do anything or go out anywhere and the only place she actuallyspends all her time in is the room, but because she is basically forced to stay there.

Sonny & the money

            “I decided! I went into the kitchen and grabbed a dish towel and came back and I opened the drawer like an oven and I took the envelope” (158). From previous reading Sonny had found an envelope full of money in a drawer in Cloyds office. It was obvious that Sonny was going to end up stealing Cloyds money because it was always in the back of his mind, and although he did not steal it right away he was always tempted and always went back to it. There’s a pattern that Sonny falls into and every time he gets into an argument or gets frustrated he feels as though he should steal something, usually money, to release his anger. He also stole money whenever he noticed that he was running low on cash just because he didn’t want to ask Sylvia for it directly. “I wanted to steal something from him. Put nails under his tires” (196). In this part of the reading Sonny gets into several arguments with Bud and is so fed up with the way he talks to him that he finally decides to take the allured money. And although he was aware of the consequences he did it anyway.

            In the beginning, I thought that Sonny would spend the money in random worthless things because he always used his money to buy food or go bowling. Since he always did it I figured that Cloyd’s money wouldn’t be any different. In the last scene both Nica and Sonny babysat Bud and Mary’s cat and after reading how Sonny thought of Nica I completely changed my prediction. Sonny is probably going to save the money he stole from Cloyd and use it to go to France since he had been trying to learn the language and what started off as a joke to him could turn into something he really wants to do later on, or even use it to get him and Nica away from The Flowers. “I wanted to say I’d take her to Spain. And couldn’t we go to France together? I really thought I meant it too. I had the money, you know?” (205). Nica isn’t happy living in The Flowers and she doesn’t do much she already mentioned that she wanted to go to Spain ever since she heard Mr. Josep talk about how he used to live there. Maybe he’ll go even further than that and saves the money so he could win Nica over and take her to see the place she truly dreams of visiting.

            If I was in Sonny’s position, I don’t think I would steal Cloyd’s money to begin with because I would feel some remorse afterwards. I may have been tempted to see that amount of money and I too would be pissed off at Cloyd and Bud for exaggerating everything but not to the point of stealing the money. The most I would have done would be to mess up or destroy some of their belongings that way I get them to spend that money trying to fix whatever I messed up.

significance of car salesman

            The car salesman, or Pink, has been a very significant person to Sonny. Since Sylvia gives Cloyd most of her attention, Sonny tries to look for that attention but in someone else. Sonny likes hanging out with Pink because he is the one who shows affection and personal interest in him. “This one’s yours, you want it, little brother” (118). Pink started referring to Sonny as “little brother” and takes him out when he’s not selling any cars and later even offers to give Sonny one of his cars. Pink shows understanding about the fact that Sonny doesn’t like Cloyd and that he probably never will, something that Sylvia hasn’t. “And in my experience, and by numbers, you aren’t cozy with your stepdaddy. Am I right?” (119). Sonny doesn’t have many friends so he looks as though he feels so comfortable around Pink because he truly understands him and his frustration to be around Cloyd.

Sonny has always had bad habits so he doesn’t seem to mind Pinks. Since the beginning, Pink would get Sonny to speak out and do what he wanted to do rather than what others told him to do. For example, there was a previous scene where Sonny was asked to cut the weeds but Pink convinces him to go cruising around with him instead of finishing up because he said Sonny didn’t look like he wanted to be doing that anyway. Pink has also been responsible for letting Sonny drink a couple of beers. “…all I need is you to listen for me is all. Be some wide-open ears. I’m speaking of your stepdad…” (139). In this part of the reading, Pink offers to give Sonny a Bel Air, but he doesn’t show much interested in Sonny’s money instead he wants him to listen to what Cloyd has to say about him. He then assures Sonny that what he wants in return for the car “…ain’t no big deal, ain’t nothing, not really nothing, probably nothing” (139) so that Sonny could know that it’s not  big deal.

            Pink doesn’t seem to be sincere about his care for Sonny, I think it’s all an act; an act to win Sonny over so that Pink can get a bigger benefit or even a profit out of it later on. I predict that Pink will be a bad influence for Sonny and he’s probably going to teach Sonny even more bad habits that will cause him to rebel out. I also think that because of Sonny’s new bad life style, a racial war along with other problems will arise. We already know that Cloyd is a racist who hates blacks so I believe that he along with all of his other racist friends, will be the main starters of violence that will occur at The Flowers. The car salesman already asked Sonny to do one of the many jobs he’s probably going to ask him to do, and I’m sure that as the book goes on the innocent jobs will develop to become more and more dangerous. And finally, by the end of the book, Sonny is going to realize the things that are good in his life and he will eventually change his life around to be a better person for both his sake and his mothers.

Blog Entry #2

There is a scene in The Flowers where Sonny is told to paint the apartment sign and he doesn’t seem to mind doing it because he says that he would much rather do that than continue to cut the weeds. Cloyd tells him to be extra careful so that he wouldn’t splatter black paint on the rest of the painting. Sonny is aware of the fact he has to do things cautiously but the sign itself seemed to confuse him. He was accepting of the sign itself and he tried to follow instructions without showing much care but he was bothered about the los part. He then asked the twins and got them to explain to him about the difference between Los and Las. “Los Flores: It’s that I really wasn’t sure one way or the other, because I wasn’t any expert on the Spanish language… there are words that seem like they should take a la and don’t… (75).

I can relate back to this quote because I remember I used to feel the same way about certain Spanish words. I remember I had a Spanish class back in High School but there were times where to me, the wrong pronoun was the word that seemed to be the right one. Unlike Sonny, I am more familiar with speaking Spanish, but I am used to speaking Spanglish so trying to focus just on Spanish and using the right pronouns confused me too sometimes.

The author’s intention towards this scene can be to show that there are less and less younger people speaking Spanish. Like Sonny and Sylvia, she appears to have been brought up in a Mexican culture and she speaks a lot of Spanish throughout the book but Sonny in the other hand, struggles to speak much Spanish, especially when he wants to translate words so that Nica could understand him. The author could be trying to point out the fact that there are more families like Sylvia and Sonny. This scene follows up on my thought that Sylvia never really did much to teach Sonny about their Mexican culture or to try to interact with him at all. I mean she has told him that she loves him but there isn’t a lot of communication between them.