The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay - 2265 Words

The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most renowned novels. The matter of subject in the novel is revered almost 170 years after publication. Hawthorne walks his readers through the fate of Hester Prynne. He exhibits a woman who has been condemned by Puritan law to wear a scarlet A on her breast as a reflection of her punishment for adultery. Not only is Hester the protagonist of the novel, but she is also â€Å"the embodiment of deep contradictions,† which has delegated her as one of the most fascinating and mysterious female characters in American literature (Seabrook NPR). Not only does Hawthorne discuss the sadness and infirmity of humanity, he also dives deep into the consciousness of guilt in relation to the body, mind, and soul. He covertly criticizes the philosophy of the Puritans and examines the conscious struggle between authority and freedom. The main idea Hawthorne presents to his readers throughout the novel is the differe nce between the conventional idea of freedom and the unbreakable stance of patriarchal authority. He also sticks with the convention of his time by maintaining the standard feminine status as subservient, justifying the patriarchal society by creating a misogynistic village, and counters these aspects by disrupting the traditional ideology that the female is an object. He is able to do this by giving Hester Prynne a resolute attitude and Arthur Dimmesdale a fatalistic outlook. To understand how the character ofShow MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1242 Words   |  5 PagesLYS PAUL Modern Literature Ms. Gordon The Scarlet Letter The scarlet letter is book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who is known as one the most studied writers because of his use of allegory and symbolism. He was born on July 4, 1804 in the family of Nathaniel, his father, and Elizabeth Clark Hathorne his mother. Nathaniel added â€Å"W† to his name to distance himself from the side of the family. His father Nathaniel, was a sea captain, and died in 1808 with a yellow fever while at sea. That was aRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne960 Words   |  4 Pages3H 13 August 2014 The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published in 1850 (1). It is a story about the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, set around 1650 (2). The story is written in the third person with the narrator being the author. The common thread that runs through this novel is Hawthorne’s apparent understanding of the beliefs and culture of the Puritans in America at that time. But Hawthorne is writing about events in a societyRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne919 Words   |  4 Pagessymbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†. Symbolism is when an object is used in place of a different object. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most symbolic writers in all of American history. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the letter â€Å"A† is used to symbolize a variety of different concepts. The three major symbolistic ideas that the letter â€Å"A† represents in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† are; shame, guilt, and ability. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the firstRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1397 Words   |  6 PagesFebruary 2016 The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the puritan’s strict lifestyles to relate to the universal issues among us. The time frame of the puritans resulted in Hawthorne eventually thinkingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne999 Words   |  4 Pages Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the prodigious book entitled The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, soon finds out about the incident after it becomes clear that she is pregnant. The whole town finds out and Hester is tried and punished. Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth goes out then on a mission to get revenge by becoming a doctor and misprescribing Dimmesdale. He does this to torture DimmesdaleRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne1037 Words   |  5 Pagesthat human nature knows right from wrong, but is naturally evil and that no man is entirely â€Å"good†. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the classic novel The Scarlet Letter, believes that every man is innately good and Hawthorne shows that everyone has a natural good side by Hester’s complex character, Chillingworth’s actions and Dimmesdale’s selfless personality. At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the â€Å"bad guy†. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, butRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1517 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne composes Pearl as a powerful character even though she is not the main one. Her actions not only represent what she is as a person, but what other characters are and what their actions are. Hawthorne makes Pearl the character that helps readers understand what the other characters are. She fits perfectly into every scene she is mentioned in because of the way her identity and personality is. Pearl grows throughout the book, which in the end, help the readers better understandRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne1488 Words   |  6 Pages In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester Prynne, is a true contemporary of the modern era, being cast into 17th century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts. The Scarlet Letter is a revolutionary novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne examining the ugliness, complexity, and strength of the human spirit and character that shares new ideas about independence and the struggles women faced in 17th century America. Throughout the novel, Hester’s refusal to remove the scarlet letterRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1319 Words   |  6 PagesPrynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are subject to this very notion in Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter. Hester simply accepted that what she had done was wrong, whereas Dimmesdale, being a man of high regard, did not want to accept the reality of what he did. Similar to Hester and Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth allows his emotions to influence his life; however, his influence came as the result of hi s anger. Throughout the book, Hawthorne documents how Dimmesdale and Hester s different ways of dealingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1714 Words   |  7 PagesSome two hundred years following the course of events in the infamous and rigid Puritan Massachusetts Colony in the 1600s, Nathaniel Hawthorne, descendant of a Puritan magistrate, in the 19th century, published The Scarlet Letter. Wherein such work, Hawthorne offered a social critique against 17th Massachusetts through the use of complex and dynamic characters and literary Romanticism to shed light on said society’s inherent contradiction to natural order and natural law. In his conclusive statements

The Importance Of Fear In Lord Of The Flies By William...

Kailye M. Porche Mrs. Hardy English IV Period 2 17 September 2017 The Importance of Fear In Lord of the Flies, William Golding applies literary devices like characterization and symbolism to develop the theme: the power of fear. From the beginning to the end of the story, Golding suggests to the reader that the most destructive emotion humans have is fear. In the novel, the boys find out that the only fear that is inevitable is fear itself. Golding leads the reader into his beliefs by stating, â€Å"...fear can t hurt you any more than a dream. There aren t any beasts to be afraid of on this island...† (Golding 122). Fear can hurt you as a person living in their situation and their are beats on the island that will continue to be†¦show more content†¦However, Jack was not always a monster, he initially shows that he wants to have rules and a civilized leader. Jack said, â€Å"We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are best at everything† (Golding 42). This does not last very long and sadly, Jack does not go along with following the rules from anyone but himself. Fear is what compels their decision to follow Jack. Jack makes the boys feel that they are better at surviving against every danger with him. The first moment of Jackâ€℠¢s savagery happens when the boys make masks for hunting. The mask makes Jack feel more liberated and untamed giving himself a boldness to act on his emotions, limiting him from â€Å"shame and self- consciousness† (Golding 64). Not long after Jack makes the pig his first kill. â€Å"There were lashings of blood...you should have seen it!† (Golding 69). Jack now feels respected and powerful by the boys in the tribe for what he has just done. Jack’s power comes from using violence as a weapon to get others to follow him. His actions are what turns the rest to respect him, better known as fear. â€Å"Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy† (Golding 184). The murder of Piggy by Jack and Roger is the clear mark of their transformation from normal boys to complete savages incapable of feeling rightShow MoreRelatedWilliam Golding And Lord Of The Flies Analysis1031 Wor ds   |  5 PagesWilliam Golding fulfills Hobbes’ ideas about man with Lord of the Flies in the moments when Jack and Ralph argue over whether to hunt for meat or build shelters, when Simon is killed by the boys, and when Samneric betray Ralph and join Jack’s tribe. An early example in the novel where Golding supports Hobbes’ ideas about man is when Jack and Ralph argue over whether to hunt for meat or build shelters. Hobbes discusses the competition between men with the same desires as he writes, â€Å"And thereforeRead More Importance of Fear in The Lord of the Flies Essay1167 Words   |  5 PagesImportance of Fear in The Lord of the Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The boys in the book, The Lord of the Flies, are controlled by their fear of the beast.   This fear is not of the beast itself, but of the unknown. It comes from not knowing whether or not a beast exists.    The children start as one united group.   They are a community in their own.   Slowly, rules started to get broken, individuals began to leave, and the group broke apart.   The one thing that causes this break-up is the beast. TheRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1022 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding emphasizes the essential values of a democracy to the people on the island through Ralph’s democratic leadership style and goals and Jack’s controlling and manipulative. These two leaders of the tribes draw a parallel reflection on the two leaders of World War Two, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler. Lord of the Flies beings with a plane crash in the middle of the ocean; the boys are left alone on an island without any adults, fending for theirRead MoreEssay about Edgar Derby and Simon: Life, Beliefs, and Death1586 Words   |  7 PagesThe lives, deaths, situations, and beliefs of Edgar Derby, from the novel, Sla ughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut, and Simon, from the novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, are equally alike and unalike. Even though these characters are from different books, they represent the absurdity of death and the importance of speaking up for what you believe. Both of these characters live in hostile and confining environments, attempt to deliver a vital message, and are unfairly killed. Edgar DerbyRead More Lord of the Flies Essay838 Words   |  4 Pages Lord of the Flies and the novel’s symbolism nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Lord of the flies is a thought-provoking novel authored by William Golding. This novel uses symbolism throughout its entirety to help portray importance and teach lessons. The book describes in detail the horrific exploits of a band of young children who make a striking transition from civilized to barbaric. Lord of the Flies commands a pessimistic outlook that seems to show that man is inherently tied to society, and withoutRead More The most significant theme in the novel Lord of the Flies by William721 Words   |  3 PagesThe most significant theme in the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the degeneration from civility to savagery. Sub themes to this novel would be power and Savagery, Power, and Fear The most significant theme in the novel â€Å"Lord of the Flies† by William Golding is the degeneration from civility to savagery. Sub themes to this novel would be power and the fear of the unknown. In this novel William Golding depicts the importance of having rules and regulations even in secludedRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1745 Words   |  7 Pages1954 novel, Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize-winner William Golding is a dystopian allegory indicative of vast aspects of the human condition. Set in the midst of a nuclear war, the text details a group of marooned British school boys as they regress to a primitive state. Free from the rules and structures of civilisation and society, the boys split into factions - some attempting to maintain order and achieve common goals; others seeking anarchy and violence. The novel is based on Golding’s experienceRead MoreEssay on Lord of the Flies-Piggy1247 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Sucks To Your Ass-mar!† The conch, glasses, and brains are all symbols in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In this novel, a group of school kids crash into a deserted island and fight wilderness, fear, and themselves to survive. Piggy, being one of the most vital characters in their survival, is often disrespected and overlooked. This is persistent throughout the novel, and can be attributed to his weight and nerdy appearance. Generally, Piggy means well, and tries to help the boy’s survivalRead MoreLord Of The Flies By William Golding1368 Words   |  6 Pagesthat without a firm foundation, any society will crumble under pressure. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are many instances where a strong leader was needed to keep the group domesticated, however their leader was not a natural leader and did not carry the group as they needed. This lead to trials which the boys were not use to encountering and they didn t know how to deal with difficult circumstances. Golding develops for the reader, an environment where children were forced to leadRead MoreLord Of The Flies Deep Book Review Essay1226 Words   |  5 PagesThe Lord Of The Flies Deep Book Review The book, Lord Of The Flies is a very well known and classic book that many high schools have their students read. It is a thought-provoking book that received large masses of attention after its’ publication in 1954. Many critics and scholars compared it to the work of Shakespeare, Conrad and some other world-renowned writers. The author William Golding planned to â€Å"trace the defect of society back to the defect of human nature.† By finishing this book,

Critically evaluate Samuel Huntington’s claims Free Essays

Critically evaluate Samuel Huntington’s claims in â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations? † The abrupt end of the Cold War meant that the bipolar model of thinking which had dominated the sphere of World Politics for decades became obsolete. This new phase led to a renewal in thinking in the study of International Relations dubbed â€Å"the hundred schools of thought† which led to a wide spectrum of visions about the uncertain future of world affairs. One of the more prominent visions was the late Professor Samuel Huntington’s â€Å"Clash of Civilizations? † published in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article, where he predicted a growing pattern of conflict based on differences in cultural, religious and historical identity of entities he labelled civilizations instead of the ideological differences of the Cold War Era. We will write a custom essay sample on Critically evaluate Samuel Huntington’s claims or any similar topic only for you Order Now Huntington’s thesis was a Realist response to Fukuyama’s 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama argued that the post-1991 world was left with no viable ideological alternative to liberal democracy and the free market economy predicting a new era of global consensus on democracy, Justice, human rights and cooperation. The nation will ontinue to be a central pole of identification, even if more and more nations come to share common economic and political forms of organization. ‘i Huntington’s premise was that ‘The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain as the most powerful actors in world affairs but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. ii The controversial nature of Huntington’s thesis ensured the stern critique by some of his fellow academics for reasons ncluding oversimplification, neglecting contradicting factors and inaccurate predictions. The tragedy of 9/1 1 and the events that followed revived the confidence in his thesis by his supporters who saw this as the conformation of Huntington’s predictions notably the inconsolable clash between Islam and the West. Huntington begins by describing the historical evolution of the nature of conflicts in the Western World; from the competition between monarchs and emperors for territorial and mercantile expansion leading to the emergence of nation states beginning with the French Revolution, to the rise of ideological conflict after the Bolshevik Revolutioniii. His Eurocentric bias is clear early as he quotes and perpetuates an idea put forward before by William Lind that these were primarily Western Civil Wars’. Labelling World War II, the deadliest military conflict in history which involved the majority of the world’s nations, as such greatly diminishes the involvement and sacrifices made by people across the world. Notably the Soviet Union which was mainly composed of nations Huntington would regard as part of a Slavic-orthodox civilization sustained the highest amount of casualties totalling at around twenty-seven millioniv. Later in the paragraph, Huntington writes ‘peoples and governments of non-western civilizations no longer remain the objects of history as targets of Western colonialism but Join the West as movers of history as if to suggest that events occurring in non-western parts of the world somehow do not constitute as history if they don’t involve or have a felt effect upon Western society. Although the leadership of the West in fields such as science, technology and engineering for the larger part in recent centuries is indisputable; Jewish philosophy, Hindu mathematics, Muslim astronomy and engineering contributed significantly to he foundations of what we know today and this shouldn’t be undermined. The sharing and borrowing of ideas between the different corners of the world through the millennia’s that’s still going on today suggests a long-term cooperation instead of a clash of civilizations in our common pursuit of knowledge. According to Huntington a civilization is ‘ the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity’v. He divides the world’s population into seven civilizations as well as hinting at the possibility of a Caribbean and an African ivilization; Africa being indeed a continent known for its vast diversity of cultures and traditionsvi. He defines a civilization by what he calls objective elements such as language, history and primarily religion as well as by the subjective self-identification of people. Huntington argues the onset of globalization has led to increased levels of interaction between peoples of different civilizations, which in turn intensifies civilization consciousness and brings to the forefront their cultural differences which unlike ideological and political differences are fundamental and much less mutable nd hence less easily compromised. It’s clear that people instinctively identify themselves closely to others who share common traditions, customs and history; I hold the belief however that Huntington downplays the penetration of globalization and focuses on one aspect of its possible consequences. It’s not the differences that drive cultural conflict between peoples; it’s the lack of understanding which in turn creates prejudices and fears. The increased interactions between peoples have led to a wider acceptance of and fascination with other cultures, helping us understand why foreign societies live the way they do. Huntington argues: ‘†¦ Russians cannot become Estonians and Azeri’s cannot become ArmenianVii. An Estonian living in Russia will absorb aspects of Russian culture depending on one’s willingness, length of stay and the extent to which one feels alienated or accepted by Russian society. Thus the objective elements invoked are not convincingly definitive in determining one’s identity; an Englishman may choose to convert to Islam while a Chinese citizen in Shanghai may choose to learn French as a pastime. Globalization in itself has penetrated the long-standing limitations in global trade of the past; politicians ever ncreasingly have to consider the global implications of domestic policy. More than ever national states around the world are dependent upon each other; the United States Demands Chinese goods while China needs the US to buy its goods. Huntington ascribes ideas such as constitutionalism, human rights, the rule of law, tree markets and democracy as Western; unable to gain a tootnold in other civilizations. He writes: ‘Modern democratic government originated in the West. When it has developed in non-western societies it has usually been the product of the western colonialism or impositionViii. uggesting that somehow peoples of other civilizations may not be able to sustain or see the benefits of a form of democratic governance. The people of India would point out that democratic government was formed in their country despite, not because of the Westix. Today more than two- thirds of the world’s governments operate in some form of democracy, which reaffirms the idea that democracy is a universal value, contradicting Huntington’s view of its general Western exclusivity. If asked, most Middle-Easterners would prefer the idea of a democratic to authoritarian governancex; the limitation of democratic evelopment in the region however is a product of the unstable and incompatible political landscape rather than the irreconcilability of the culture. Defining the religious aspects of the Western Civilization, Huntington Justifies the grouping of Protestant and Catholic Christians into a single entity by emphasizing shared experiences in European history such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution which in turn separates them from the Orthodox Christians beyond Central Europexi. Although it is evident that the closer proximity of those events has influenced Protestants and Catholics more than their Orthodox ounterparts, the closer resemblance of Catholic and Orthodox practices and beliefs as opposed to Protestants is however neglected. Huntington consistently appeals to religion as the primary source of cultural identity, rightly so, to a Christian the creeds of their religion have a profound influence on their world view and thus how they would identify themselves. When speaking of the Islamic civilization however, Huntington doesn’t seem to make the effort to differentiate between the major denominations of Shia, Sunni and Sufism which have so strongly influenced the historical and especially current political landscape of the Middle-East. In a passionate attempt to warn his fellow Americans of the potential threats that their country may face in the post-Cold War environment, Huntington essentially perpetuated ideas that were dangerous and self-fulfilling. The existence of a Confucian-Islamic connection that may threaten the West described by Huntingtonxii is yet to be empirically verified, as the Chinese and US economies remain inter-linked and Barrack Obama moves towards a policy of dialogue in the Middle-East. Given the history of US foreign policy, legislators would have found Huntington’s paradigm easy to understand and convenient in terms of implementation. A worldview of distrust towards foreign powers that demands the maintaining of military superiority in the name of security panders to the powerful military industrial complex in the US. In order to maintain peace, global stability and have any hopes of dealing with transnational issues such as global warming, policy makers should regard all nations as members of the world community and work closer with international organizations such as the UN and WTO in establishing universal laws. The alienation and coercion of other governments will indeed create an atmosphere of antagonism and hostility. How to cite Critically evaluate Samuel Huntington’s claims, Papers