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Summary of the scarlet letter
Summary of the scarlet letter
The scarlet letter character thesis
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Evil manifests itself in characters from many books. These characters are usually the antagonists of the story. Rodger Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick by Herman Melville are examples of evil antagonists. Ahab and Chillingworth both are very similar in how the evil manifests within them.
Ahab and Chillingworth both want revenge on someone or something that has wronged them. Ahab wants revenge on Moby Dick for biting his leg off. Ahab’s goal is to kill Moby Dick to avenge himself. Chillingworth wants revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale for having an affair with his wife, Hester Prynne. Chillingworth is angry at Dimmesdale and wants to harm him.
Ahab and Chillingworth both end up hurting themselves
Literary villains are all around us. For instance, Voldemort from Harry Potter and Darth Vader from Star Wars. What makes a villain? They will go through anyone or damage anything to reach their goal. No matter how small or how tall they are, anyone can be a villain.
evil by many of the characters. Henry Louis Mencken once said, "It is a sin
Has a Story ever made a reader want to hurt the character responsible for trouble that’s being caused? Of course; usually the antagonist is often the nuisance. Richard Connell creates these instigative characters with pleasure and diversity. In his story “The Most Dangerous Game”, He Creates General Zaroff so that he is easy to hold a grudge against. Likewise Edgar Allan Poe Creates a character that is easy to hate. In his short story “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe creates a mastermind killer. Connells antagonist, General Zaroff, and Poe’s antagonist, Montresor, give the reader an invitation to hate them. These two characters are similar yet different in their evil persona, wealth, and challenge.
Some of the greatest villains in literature are characters who have merely been misunderstood. While we are drawn to literary heroes and admire their strengths, we often forget to consider the point of view of their enemies. Many of these enemies also possess strengths that the reader does not realize. Along with traditional heroes, the villain in a story can be considered an anti-hero. In the story Grendel, by John Gardner, the reader is challenged to contemplate the thoughts and feelings of the anti-hero, Grendel. Exploring heroes like Beowulf, and anti-heroes like Grendel, and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, causes the reader to develop a better understanding of the relationship that exists between the characters and their society.
Stories usually include the archetype bad guys that seem to be evil, but in numerous stories, the “bad guy” persona becomes clouded. In the short stories, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor there are centralized antagonists, Arnold Friend and The Misfit, that are the archetype of a bad guy with a troubled past. Both short stories have subliminal messages hinting towards the devil. But if you start reading deeper you can see that’s not all they are portrayed, as seen in the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Misfit could also be portrayed as an archetype as a savior or a seer that has lost his way, although in “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? “, Arnold Friend could be portrayed as a satyr, a mischievous demi god. While it can be argued that both characters are completely evil or not, they both have similar and their own personal qualities like the need to inflict pain upon others although they go about it in different ways.
During this puritan time in the 1600s. Nathaniel Hawthorne who is an anti-transcendentalist speaks about sin. But not just any sin, secret sin in this novel “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne expresses many themes and symbols in many strange and mysterious ways. Hawthorne is a very dark and devious man. The scarlet letter A that is embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery. Adultery is the sin that she has committed. Hester had a whole husband and made a baby with a man that wasn’t the husband. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Hester’s Cabin, Leeches, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of Good Vs. Evil.
One of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter is that of the secret. The plot of the book is centered on Hester Prynne’s secret sin of adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne draws striking parallelism between secrets held and the physical and mental states of those who hold them. The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeance, while a secret made public, such as Prynne’s adultery, can allow a soul to recover and even strengthen.
Many people often meet different characters in literature and in life that they admire or despise. They conclude if those characters are good or evil and at the same time they reflect on the choices and responsibilities that those characters have. From The Chocolate War I admire Roland Goubert or The Goober based on his actions. I despise Archie Costello (The Assigner of The Vigils) because of the choices that he made and also because of his actions.
Evil is defined as being profoundly immoral of malevolent. Being faced with evil is can be challenging especially when the person is unaware that it is present. In the Play Othello by William Shakespeare and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Othello and Ralph are faced with the challenge of evil. Othello is an outsider of Venice coming from South Africa that is sometimes ridiculed based on the color of his skin; yet earned the title of respect with his intelligence, courage, and skills. Othello’s insecurities and him not knowing when evil is looking him straight in the eye, leads him to his down falling. Ralph... Both characters in the beginning act in a moral manner, until the end of the stories when both characters have been
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne has introduced a character that has been judged harshly. Because, she has been misinformed of her husband’s death; therefore, she was greave and had sought comfort resulting in a baby from the lover whom gave her comfort. When her secret had been discovered she was isolated for committing a treacherous crime of adultery, as one of her punishments she was forced to wear an A on her chest. The novel presents a structure of a society, using symbolism and diction to give underline meaning to the themes, portraying religious tendencies ruled by the philosophy of good and evil.
In most works of literature there is an “evil” character that has conflicting interests with the protagonist. This issue may arise in multiple forms including, but not limited to, abuse and manipulation. In this paper we will be discussing the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s character Iago from Othello and J.K. Rowling’s character Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
Despite being from in two different time periods, Lord of the Flies by Golding and Othello by Shakespeare , Shakespeare and Golding both share a common theme of good versus evil; the characters Simon and Desdemona share the interest of purity and represent a God/Goddess while being challenged by the unholy or the evil. Jack, dark and evil character and Iago, dark and masterminded character share the characteristic of being evil or unholy. Unfortunately in both instances, evil takes over and cannot be a pure individual. The evil inside them takes over their heart but does not really control them, even in their most brutal murders, they still maintain to be themselves and not get absorbed by evil and turn insane.
Wicked, dishonorable, corrupt, villainous, malicious, and vicious all have one thing in common: they define evil. A person or a group of people that display these qualities are often defined as evil beings or creatures. Two people that have many of these characteristics developed within them are Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello and Lucifer from the Bible. Both Iago and Lucifer are developed with many “evil” qualities woven intricately into their character development. The representation of each “evil” characteristic gives them something they have in common, allowing the description and portrayal of both Iago and Lucifer in literature show the audience they share common “evil” characteristics and that they lead to chaos and downfall.
The society around them gave them the revenge both desired without having to lift a finger. Their societies they were living both had very different standards of what was unforgivable sin. Even with these very different standards both societies had the same very similar reactions to the sins when they were broke. People who broke it were outcasts and judged harshly. The cruelty in both cultures helps the men succeed in part of their revenge. Now that the Chillingworth and The Master have got to witness the suffering caused by others on those that hurt them it’s their turn to hurt them. Chillingworth first action is sense he can’t get under Hester skin he will get under the skin of the one she loved instead of him. Dimmesdale. As Dimmesdale health begins to fail Chillingworth is called into help him. He now living with Dimmesdale taking care of him. While its unknown if it’s Chillingworth that actually does it. It’s thought that he decorated Dimmesdale room which has two focus points. A tapestry of telling the story of King David and Bathsheba which is a story of betrayal and adultery or a window that looks out at a
Captain Ahab is evil because his sole purpose is to chase after a legendary white whale that goes by the name Moby Dick; he will do anything and stop at nothing to get a chance to hunt the whale. The townspeople do not like Ahab, although they must respect him, this is even true for the