I as many people have read The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in high school. I remembered the gist of the story but definatly did not remember what the custom house referred to. It took me a really long time to read it because i couldnt quite catch what the point of it was. After finally finishing it i am still a quite bit confused what it was really about.
Once i started reading into the story though it became much easier to read. So far, i have noticed one major thing in Hawthornes writing. He uses color to describe everything from moods, to characteristics, to setting. The most obvious being the Scarlet Letter A , embroidered in gold. This is suppose to be something hurtful yet it is described as something so beautiful. This horrible letter that Hester must wear upon her breast also has the ability to " come to life". As Hawthorne describes, "... and seemed to derive its scarlet hue from the flames of the infernal pit..." i found this interesting because he gave this inanimate object realistic charasteristics that really brings its significance to life.
Within the first few chapters, another thing really caught my attention. Hawthorne says, " the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on the contrary to grow more sensitive with daily torture." This i think could be related to present day movie stars. If someone famous does something wrong, such as have an affair, it is in the tabloids and no one EVER forgets what that person did regaurdless of the circumstances. It is something that will haunt them forever.
Erin,
I really liked how in your blog you discussed topics that were very similar to those I had wondered and even thought deeply upon. I also found that Nathaniel Hawthorne does use a lot of color in his writings. However, I was thinking of a different situation than the one that you brought to my attention. I saw the majority of Nathaniel Hawthorne's color in his writing to be when he is referring to Pearl. She takes on so many different forms throughout the novel. There are certain points that she is brought up to be the "demon" child and other points when she is used as a comic relief among her moments of play. I was thrilled to see that you wrote about the actual scarlet "A" taking on more color as well. I was aware of this I believe unconsciously until I saw that you brought it fully to my attention. I also was intrigued by the other portion of your blog in which you discussed and related the occurence of the happenings today. It is so ironic that the Scarlet letter is actually like our tabloids today. That was a great reference!
I do want to ask you if you did have to decide on a purpose for this book what exactly would it actually be in reference to? Do you think that he was writing it to show to the audience the harshness of a society such as the Puritan society? Do you think it showed another inner reality that has deeper roots? I would like to hear your viewpoints simply because of the ideas that I found you to express in this blog! Hope to hear your answers!