P5+IMuradian

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Identification of the Nation via Politics in “The Scarlet Letter”

As countless authors of varying time periods have attempted to capture the status of a particular region through literary allusions, few match the eloquent works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. As the post-Revolutionary era brought forth a myriad of significant issues facing the world, Hawthorne and like writers offered within their literature solutions to the problems facing the nation. This is exemplified through his “The Scarlet Letter”. A historic account of the illustrious Hester Prynne and her life affairs, all of which explore a certain popular issue of the nation of that time. For instance, the 18th century American ideologies regarding government and politics unfold within the depths of the story. Through reflective characters and Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes a certain cycle of transgression, shame, repentance, and acceptance on a governmental level in order to explore the national identity of the nation at the time. The novel’s central concern, Hester Prynne, reflects the newly arising individualism of the nation on the governmental scale. That is, her adultery pushed her into the cycle of transgression, shame, repentance, and acceptance. Since the politics and government of the novel’s setting were virtually interchangeable with religious ideals, Hester’s religious defiance of adultery clearly leaps over governmental law as well. Her shame of such transgression is centered at the fact that she failed her rightful duty as a citizen of her country. Repentance of her sin takes the political form of imprisonment and she is accepted back into society the moment the government allows it. Hester, through her sin and undergoing of the cycle, reveals the governmental and political practices of the nation of her time. As Hester demonstrates a slightly ambiguous governmental issues, Dimmesdale, through his religious zeal, allows the reader to more accurately portray the common politics of the era. His transgression is seen as his failure to fulfill his preachership duties, which the aforementioned connection between government and religion brands as a political defiance. Dimmesdale experiences the worst form of shame in that his demeanor is hidden from society, and this lack of public confrontation and exposure torments the man further. He repents through his eventual admittance and his pledge of suicide, and he possibly experiences acceptance in heaven. Dimmesdale blatantly reveals the governmental concerns of the era through the effects of his sin. The knowledgeable Chillingworth reflects the futuristic government foreshadowed by Hawthorne through his passion for science, yet his actions label him a man of traditional practices. That is, he initially undergoes transgression when he chooses Hester to be his wife. He demonstrates shame due to his incessant torturing of Dimmesdale. At this point, Chillingworth is using the tool of science as a means of revenge, which Hawthorne brilliantly affiliates with government and warfare. “Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom. But what distinguished the physician’s ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it!” (p. 129). Ironically, Hawthorne is describing the natural instincts of nearly every human being as that more corrupt than Satan. Pearl is now seen as the solution to such a corrupt society and government, for she is the mixture of all elements seen within the aforementioned characters. Illegetimacy and ignorance, according to “The Scarlet Letter”, is the leading asset and blessing of government and society in the world. In conclusion, “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the 18th century nation’s identity politically and governmentally through the cycle of transgression, shame, repentance, and acceptance endured by Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth.