Scarlet Letter Rebellion Vs Rebellion

Historical abolitionist Frederick Douglas famously once said “The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.” Rebellion only happens because a group of individuals is dissatisfied with authority. Without this conflict between society and authority, humanity will not advance. Many conflicts occur frequently, but what is the frequency of individuals rebelling against authority? Some may choose to believe that this conflict is a rare occurrence, while many authors throughout history may believe that rebellion occurs more often than one might think. Rebellions against society can all be refined down to a rebellious action, a reason for rebellion, and a response from authority.
A rebellious action can come in all sorts of different

shapes and sizes. From a harmless picket sign protest to an all out revolution, rebellion can come in many different forms. Into The Wild, written by Jon Krakauer features Christopher McCandless. In McCandless’s case, his rebellious actions included leaving home unannounced, not communicating with his parents, and disobeying his parent’s best wishes, ultimately leading to his death in the Alaskan wilderness. Other characters also rebel, such as Randle Patrick McMurphy from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. In a bet with other patients on his hospital ward, McMurphy must make the head nurse lose control of her temper, and does this inadvertently by wishing to brush his teeth and being out of dress code. ¨He’s got his cap on and not much else, just a towel grabbed around his hips. He’s holding a toothbrush in his other hand. He stands in the hall, looking up and down, rocking up on his toes to keep off the cold tile as much as he can,¨ (Kesey 93). Both men had an issue with authority, both believing that their superiors were authoritarian dictators. In two very different stories, the two men sought to change how the way that things were run, yet could not have been more similar in the ways that they did it. Chris was mysterious, and he left without telling his parents, which he swore to do if he ever left again. McMurphy rebelled by doing things in his own way. He walked around out of dress code, and wanted to brush his teeth outside of the allotted time, which was against ward policy. Without a conflict between these men and society, they would have never rebelled.
Many actions happen for a reason, and rebellious are no exception.

People rebel against leadership in their own ways, and for their own reasons. American author Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous work Walden, “Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away,” (Thoreau Line 225). Thoreau wrote this passage in order to inform his readers that society should not judge people for rebelling against authority. On the contrary, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter represents how Hawthorne believes that rebellious people should be punished and should be recognized as rebels. The main character of The Scarlet Letter was charged with adultery, and was eventually forced to wear a scarlet letter “A,” which would mark her as adulterous for the rest of her life. Both of these authors had opposing views on the reasons for rebellion. Thoreau believed that rebellion was caused because a person could not follow the societal norms of the time, while Hawthorn believed that people rebelled because they could. An example of people rebelling just because they can is an example of why many of today’s teenagers disobey their parents’ best interests, much like Christopher McCandless from Into The

Wild.
World renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton once said that “All actions have an equal and opposite reaction,” and this is especially true when it comes to a rebellion against authority. When someone rebels there are consequences that can transcend through generations, such as the American Revolution from 1776 to 1783. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, After McMurphy confronts the nurse with his towel, cap, and toothbrush, the head nurse on the ward gets upset at her staff for not informing McMurphy of ward policy. “I guess--” he starts out.
“you guess!

You’ll do more than guess! You’ll get him a uniform this instant. Mr. Washington, or spend the next two weeks working on Geriatrics Ward! Yes. You may need a month of bedpans and slab baths to refresh your appreciation of just how little work you aides have to do on this ward,” (Kesey 98). This is a great example of a reaction to a rebellion from authority, as is how the clergy forces the main character to wear the scarlet letter in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. In both cases, there is an opposite reaction to rebellion, yet both reactions are different. Nurse Ratched gets furious and yells at her staff, while the clergy simply publicly shame the adulterous main character. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ken Kesey both know that their character’s rebellions must be met with equal resistance from authority, and there is a great elaboration on this subject in multiple points in both author’s

works.
All actions have a reason for being executed, such as the American Revolution, McMurphy’s conflict with the nurse, or Chris McCandless’s adventures in the wild. Also, all actions have a consequence, especially rebellious ones, which are usually met with quick and forceful resistance from authority. Rebellion has the potential to rip apart countries, and to unite millions under a single cause, however, it also has the potential to cause thousands of deaths and millions of dollars in property damages. Many things can be good in moderation, like cake, chocolate, television, and especially rebellion.