It’s that time of the week again!  This week, I will be discussing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I read this book in tenth grade, and at the time I did not have many good opinions about the novel.  In hindsight, however, I am glad to have read the book because I feel like I learned more about the cultural norms in regards to women from back in the 17th century.  

 

The novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman being punished for adultery, as she recently gave birth to an infant daughter.  As part of her punishment, she is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest. Little does the town know, however, was that Hester’s affair was with the Puritan minister.

 

Additionally, the book essentially contains a love triangle, as Hester’s long lost husband, Roger Chillingworth, appears, but he keeps his marital status with Hester a secret from everyone except her.  He has suspicions about his wife and the minister, and he uses this a means to torment the two.

 

Honestly, I think the summary makes the book sound a lot more exciting than it actually was.

 

My main complaint about the novel was that I felt as though it could be summed up in eight pages.  After I finished it, I felt as if I wasted a whole bunch of time and that the author wasted ink and paper by publishing this book.  Of course, it was not too long in terms of page count, but I mainly just did not enjoy having to take the time to understand Hawthorne’s complex writing style.

 

For people who are unfamiliar with the author, Hawthorne’s writing style consists of a great deal of imagery and symbolism, something that is actually a good thing to have despite my personal irritation.  It made the book drag on, and I zoned out of reading the novel really easily.

 

I hated taking the time to read the book, especially while being surrounded by several students who simply gave up reading and looked up the book on Sparknotes.  At the time, I didn’t realize that I was actually learning a lot by trying to gain an understanding of the novel on my own.

 

With that in mind, the reason why many students disliked reading this book and gave up with it was because my teacher tried to cram getting the reading finished into about four days.  

 

In my opinion, The Scarlet Letter is the type of book that requires a great deal of rational deliberation about what the author is trying to say, which is why I feel like my teacher did a poor job with the amount of time we had to read the book.  Yes, it was relatively short, but we had other (more important, if you ask me) classes to worry about as well.

 

However, I must admit that there was substantial information to learn about the Puritan sense of social views and morals in early America.  It is one thing to read about Puritans in a textbook, but it is another thing to delve into the lives of individuals through a well-written novel.  In spite of those who look down on the main character, Hester is able to redeem herself through her dedication to her daughter, her honesty for committing a sin, and her actions of helping the poor in the community.

Overall, I think that there is a great deal to learn from The Scarlet Letter when it is read thoughtfully and carefully.  It probably is not a fun book for those who are forced to read it, which was my experience, but overall, I am glad to have read the book.  I probably rate the book as a 6.5/10. It was not terrible, but it did contain a large amount of substance.