Similarities Between Scarlet Letter And To Kill A Mockingbird

The two novels The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee may tell vastly different stories but, both touch upon a similar subject. By using the two affectionate characters of Boo Radley and Hester Prynne the authors explain their similar view on punishment, but with a different camera lens for each story.

The symmetry between the two novels builds as the reader learns more about Boo Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley was a mysterious character who hid inside his house and scared dozens children with the thought of him. The cryptic character, however, was not a man who “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch” (Lee 13) aforementioned by Jem, but instead

he was a kind man that cared for everyone.

For example, after Miss Maudie’s house burnt down Jem told Scout, “You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when [Boo Radley] put the blanket around you” (Lee 72) proving his kindness. Also at the end Boo Radley saved Scout from being killed by a drunken Robert Ewell by taking a knife and stabbing him. When she learned of what happened and why Boo would not be punished for murder Scout exclaims, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee 276) expressing the idea that though Boo Radley committed a crime, but he did it to save another and it would be wrong to punish him. Lee believed that those who model rectitude, like Boo Radley, should not be punished. This writing style showed how Harper Lee wrote her story with a wide camera lens, for she captured the main idea of a misunderstood character who was not punished for a crime he had committed.

Lee described the justice in her view of punishment as “Boo and [Scout] walked up the steps to the porch” (Lee 278) and was not arrested for murder like he should have been in a world that otherwise would of sent him to prison for the rest of his life. This happy ending of the story had great contrast from Hawthorne and his character of Hester Prynne.
On the opposite side of the spectrum where Lee used a wide lens, Hawthorne used a different lens for Hester who was a beautiful woman who sinned against her husband and was shunned for it.

Hester, however, was not some adulteress and sinner, in fact, she had more integrity than the self-proclaimed righteous townspeople. After her punishment in the book the townspeople end up saying, “It is our Hester,- the town’s own Hester,- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted” (Hawthorne 111) and describe her as the loving angel of the town even though they still shame her for the crime she committed about a decade ago. Going hand and hand with Boo Radley, Hester was misunderstood by the people until they actually saw her for the kind woman she was and not for the letter upon her chest. Hawthorne, unlike Lee, wrote with a portrait lens, for he captured a picture of a detailed and realistic character with Hester, who was punished for the crime she committed. Hawthorne described the injustice in the same view as Lee as “the young woman - the mother of this child - stood fully revealed before the crowd” (Hawthorne 36) publicly shamed in a world that failed to witness the wrong that they have done. The two different lenses of the authors connect together as they create a bigger picture than themselves on the topic of punishment. Though the authors tell the same view on punishment they did it by coming at it at different

angles
The two novels and their authors hold a strong viewpoint of their idea of punishment, but Hawthorne’s portrait lens told a deeper and more realistic story than Lee’s wide lens, ultimately holding on to their idea with a stronger grip. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s view on punishment was that the penalty people do to each other for justice created injustice. The idea was best showcased with the character Hester by virtue of after committing adultery, though still a crime, the people of the town shamed her saying, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (Hawthorne 36) and forced her to wear her sin in the form of a scarlet “A”. Hester’s punishment changed her life forever and the people cut her off from society, making her “the outcast woman” (Hawthorne 109) which Hawthorne wrote as an injustice for the reason that Hester learned her lesson but the punishment did not stop, destroying her life. Similarly, Harper Lee used the same idea, but told it through a different lens and with a different outcome. Lee’s lens was captured with Boo Radley who committed murder, but unlike Hester, he was not punished for it, for he tried to do justice. Lee asked us all to “remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 90) meaning that people should not punish those undeserving of it. Hawthorne’s lens told the story better, for its realistic nature added the pain of the corrupt justice system and became more relatable and apparent to the reader. The ideas of these authors flow and intertwine as Hawthorne told it with a darker tone and Lee with a more light hearted tone.
Hawthorne and Lee both share the same view of punishment as they describe their fictional character. Boo Radley was the scarlet letter as he was separated from society, but as time went on, people learned that the “A” stood for angel because Boo watched over Scout and saved her life. Hester Prynne was a beautiful mockingbird that sadly was shot down by the cruel world surrounding her, but the people learned that he was not a mangled woman of sin. The same view told through different writing styles created an image of pain and suffering, but also one of redemption and reality.