Clash of Belief Systems in The Scarlet Letter
Each person bases their judgment of others upon their own values or belief systems. These values or belief systems are influenced by experiences in the home and at school. The prevailing culture in an area has a tremendous impact on the belief systems of the child as well. It is easy for a child to learn the difference between right and wrong, but they may fail to grasp the fact that the values they are taught are filtered through the belief systems of those who teach.
Hawthorne judges the characters in The Scarlet Letter by using his own belief systems - drastically different from those of the Puritans. Instead of the stern, harsh values of the Puritans, Hawthorne sees life through the eyes of a Romantic. He judges each person accordingly, characterizing each person's sin as the pardonable sin of nature or the unpardonable sin of the human soul.
One can infer, by the writing style, that Hawthorne is most forgiving to Hester. He writes about Hester with a feeling of compassion that the descriptions of the other characters lack. Hawthorne approves of Hetser's feeling, vitality, and thirst to overcome the iron shackles of binding society. He shows us that although Hester is not permitted to express her feelings verbally because of social persecution, there is no one that can restrain the thoughts of the human mind. Hawthorne, being a romantic and man of nature himself, can relate to this.
If one were to look up the human mating characteristics in a science book one might be shocked or surprised. The human instinct is to have more than one partner not to stay loyal to one partn...
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...rew emaciated his voice, still rich and sweet had a melancholy prophecy of decay in it he was often observed on a slight alarm or other sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then paleness, indicative of pain. (119)
Hawthorne is a romantic and has the personality of one. He is most forgiving to Hester because she is a Romantic person. She lives in a society many years before her time, but she is strong willed and fights society’s disdain to overcome her own sin. Hawthorne places Dimmsdale somewhere amidst the foggy middle, between these two characters. Dimmsdale is there because he commits no direct sin. By not telling anyone of his secret sin he causes the pain for himself and Hester. He clearly characterizes Chilingworth as the least pardonable because he commits the sin of the heart, the soul, and of God.
Throughout history individuals or groups of people have responded to power in a multitude of ways. Hoping for religious freedom, the Puritans left England for America starting in the 1620s. The Puritan community chose to withdraw in response to conflict with the higher power in England. Coincidentally, Hawthorne wrote about a Puritan Community in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during this period of migration, and in this community like all others there is always conflicts revolving around power. Hawthorne uses power imbalances in the Scarlet Letter to characterize and transform Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
Ellis portray New York as a city where it is horrible to live, filled with homeless men,
Throughout our short time on Earth, a very common thought and feeling that many people have is, “What’s out there? Why are we here? What made us?” etc. This natural human tendency to ask these questions lead some people draw conclusions that may or may not be there. A belief I’ve held for years is the atheistic one. Christians, as well as many other moral institutions would refer to an atheist as someone who doesn’t believe in God. Where this may be the case, I feel as though this definition is a lazy and non-intellectual one. Rather I tend to believe that atheism is the lack of a belief in a given higher power. To that, I will reference a quote from Richard Dawkins, “I am an atheist with respect to around 2700 Gods, you (a christian) on the other hand are an atheist with respect to around 2699 Gods.” This is a quintessential and distinguishable difference between the two beliefs, or lack there of. What’s interesting in what Dawkins was saying was that you could infer that with this definition, Christians are statistically about as atheist as atheists are. Now with that being explained, one would start to bring in to frame the probability and the odds that maybe in fact the Christian God is the one real God vs. the chances that maybe another factor has been played into this belief.
Have you ever seen an animal sitting in a cage all alone with nothing to do. Well, zoos are trying to change that fact. They will allow the animals to live in an environment that is like their home. Many people don't realize this, but zoo are keeping and breeding these animals because they would not survive in the wild alone. In the three passages, ¨The Stripes Will Survive,¨ ¨The Zood Go Wild from No More Dodos,¨ ¨Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment.¨ All of these articles present one claim, that is that the role of zoos is no longer to keep animal, but to protect them.
Ben Gunn is the character in the book that shows Jim Hawkins how to survive, provide spiritual guidance, and be proud of whom you are. Ben is a pirate that lives alone on Treasure Island. He was left there by the pirate crew he belonged to three years ago after he was unable to find the treasure. Ben is a survivor. He has been able to provide food and a home for himself since he was left alone. He is also a man of faith. Ben tells Jim, “I’m poor Ben Gunn, I am; and I haven’t spoke with a Christian these three years.” (15) Even though he has been alone he is relying on God to help him survive. Ben is content with his station in life. He does not need a title or friends to make him feel important and others realize this about him. One of the crew members, George Merry, says "Nobody minds Ben Gunn [...] dead or alive, nobody minds him" (32.30)...
The sacrifice of the lives of so many soldiers gave Lincoln a new perspective on life, liberty, and freedom and now Lincoln is no longer defending slavery. Before the Civil War, the “Union” tried to ignore slavery and the fact that blacks were actually included in the Declaration of Independence. This was now recognized by Lincoln and the rest of the nation as the essence of a democratic government. The sacrifices of the Union soldiers ensured a government geared by the people and for the people.
Hawthorne's statement through Chillingworth offers insight into Dimmesdale and Chillingworth along with a representation of Hawthorne's disapproval of the Puritan values. This disapproval is the driving force of the novel, and it underlies the relationship between Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the prevailing greater justice of God. The contrast of the Puritans' justice and God's makes the message of the story greater than a love story or a story of a sin. With this theme, The Scarlet Letter becomes a comparison of the flawed justice of humans and the divine justice of God.
The farmers feared that Eastern industrialists and bankers were gaining too much influence, power and control over the government. During the “bust” cycle, and times of difficulties, farmers got together, talked about their problems and formed the Populist Party. The Populists were formed because of challenges and difficulties in which they were forced to deal with every day. These challenges included crop failures, falling prices, and the inability to pay loans. The Populists party called for reform by wanting the government to intervene and lessen the impact of economic depressions, regu...
Portrayal of Puritan Society in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter In the introductory sketch to Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel the "The Scarlet Letter", the reader is informed that one of the author's ancestors persecuted the Quakers harshly. The latter's son was a high judge in the Salem witch trials, put into literary form in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (Judge Hathorne appears there). We learn that Hawthorne feels ashamed for their deeds, and that he sees his ancestors and the Puritan society as a whole with critical eyes. Consequently, both open and subtle criticism of the Puritans' practices is applied throughout the novel.
...le. He worked through the struggles and difficulties to make sure that his goals were accomplished. The actions he took allowed African Americans to gather hope and lead a change in our world.
Gun control is one of the hottest issues that has been around in the United States and around the world for decades. During the wake of many tragic shootings, this issue has come up as an important decision opportunity for our country to review its gun laws. Although many people believe firearms are the killing machines, which gun control exists in order to protect innocent people as the way to reduce crimes and brings down people’s death rate; however, guns are also considered as the helpful tool that many other people believe guns are the helpers in a time of crisis when situations have gone bad, and other people are unable to help. One of variety reasons people oppose gun control is because gun control will not prevent gun violence and gun
David Hone, a dinosaur and pterosaurs specialist and previous zoo volunteer, reveals that there are in fact good zoos. Again, he believes that good zoos are institutions that provide superb care and protection to the animals it houses. A monumental amount of species is going extinct and becoming increasingly threatened across the whole Earth. Dr. Hone clearly states, “Zoos protect against a species going extinct.” However, activists disagree and claim that captivity in zoos is not a humane way to preserve animal lives. Such activists believe that the wild animals kept in zoos should be left alone in the wild with their inherent freedom. In objection, Dr. Hone states, “A lot of very nasty things happen to truly ‘wild’ animals that simply don’t happen in good zoos and to cast a life that is ‘free’ as one that is ‘good’ is, I think, an error “(Hone). In totality, Dr. Hone concludes that fewer species would be living today if it were not for the efforts of zoological institutions to keep them alive. In his experience in working in two zoo facilities, he found that research in zoos is an important resource in keeping deteriorating species and ecosystems alive. Research scientists and experts can study living habits, behavior, and reactions of wild animals in zoos all while remaining safe. Because the animals are not in the wild, the scientists and experts experience less variables in their studies which results in better results. Dr. Hone explains, “Knowing say the
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there are many moral and social themes develped throughout the novel. Each theme is very important to the overall effect of the novel. In essence, The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of truth. One theme which plays a big role in The Scarlet Letter is that of sin and its effects. Throughout the novel there were many sins committed by various characters. The effects of these sins are different in each character and every character was punished in a unique way. Two characters were perfect examples of this theme in the novel. Hester Prynne and The Reverend Dimmesdale best demonstrated the theme of the effects of sin.
There has been a long-standing debate surrounding the nature of zoological parks. In recent years, the concern over the health and safety of animals in captivity has grown significantly. This is due, in part, to the rise in attention people have started paying towards the way these animals are treated and held captive within zoological parks. On the news, more cases pop up yearly involving animals that have been abused, neglected, and even killed. Furthermore, animal rights groups have become larger in numbers and more outspoken regarding the problematic existence of zoos. Though despite these facts, there has not been a decline in the amount of people visiting zoos, the economic revenue is as strong as ever, and the establishments are still
Perfume is made up of denatured ethyl alcohol and essential oils. The different names refer to the percentage of essential oils, and thus the strength of the scent.