Shannon Beiser Lit 331-w2012 Professor John Gosney

8 February 2012

The Scarlet Letter

A novel about conformity or survival? The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story that is used to demonstrate the idea of conformity in society. But is it really? Does this novel challenge the idea of conformity or is it a story of survival and doing what is necessary to live in peace? Hester appeared to conform on the surface as did Dimsdale and Chillingsworth but they all hid secrets that showed they really did not fit society's mold. So this shows there really is no such thing as true conformity, it is just an appearance that is put forth to others. Therefore this novel is not one about conformity and whether or not it is good or bad but about secrets and survival. Did Hester own the letter or did the letter own Hester? This is perhaps the easiest question to answer because while Hester wore the letter and felt the shame rained down upon her by her neighbors she never let her daughter be termed a sin or a mistake, she held her head high and raised her daughter to the best of her ability and eventually

people saw Hester and not the letter on her chest. Everyone except her daughter Pearl who once witnessed her mother cast off the letter and became enraged until the letter found itself back where it belonged on the chest of her mother. At the start of this story Hester's identity was more closely tied to her letter, she was ostracized by other females in the community and made to feel her shame more deeply. Later in the tale, the community begins to accept both Hester and Pearl for themselves because Hester proved herself to be a good mother and was also a talented seamstress. Does the evolution of the perception of Hester change because the community is forgiving and she proves herself a positive part of their society or does the letter teach a slutty sinner the error of her ways and serve a higher purpose than the mere humiliation and persecution intended? Neither is true because Hester never really felt shame in what she had done, but I think she felt shame for bringing her daughter into the world under a dark cloud. Hester worked to conform to society to an extent that would ensure the comfort of her daughter around town but she thumbed her nose at it in the same breath by never revealing Pearl's father. She didn't truly learn from her 'mistake' because she still had intimate feelings for Dimsdale and so her efforts to fit in and be perceived as a a good Christian woman and mother was a facade so that she and Pearl could live in comfort. In some cases conformity can kill you. Fitting into the role you

signed on to play can be suffocating and the stress of living a lie can wreak havoc on your body. Conformity is based on some form of normaland let us face facts, some people are normal so conforming to society is not stressful for them it is, in fact, being true to who they are. Others conform because they would rather be told what to do then decide for themselves. These people have no true sense of personal identity, this is a grave intellectual sin. Then there are those that work so hard to be normal, so hard to conform, so hard to fit in to a mold that they were never meant to. These people at least know who they want to be, know who they should be, but for some reason refuse to embrace their true selves. Dimsdale fits into the last category. He is torn. He is a man of God and truly believes in God's word and works but he struggles because what he wants the most is not a practice of what he preaches. Beyond that, he has already committed a sin and is being eaten away on the inside because he is hiding behind Hester's skirts, knowing she received a harsher punishment and that he was one of the men to dole it out to her. He saw every day the reminder of his sin and the grace with which his lover wore her punishment. His guilt began eating him alive and that is what eventually defined his identity, not his relationship with God, not his sin, but the refusal to allow himself to come to terms with them both. His stress caused by his guilt eventually led to physical ailments for which he sought the council of the town doctor, Roger

Chillingsworth, who also happened to be Hester's true husband with a hidden identity. The good doctors need for revenge played right into Dimsdale's stress related symptoms. The doctor never really helped him and eventually Dimsdale's guilt ate him alive, caused him to confess publicly, and he died. The idea that there is not conformity in nature is an utterly ridiculous statement. Nature strives for balance which is in itself a type of conformity. There is no doubt that there is conformity in nature. Best said by Ursula's mother in George of the Jungle Stripes with stripes and spots with spots. To be clear one must understand the what 'success' is in nature. Success is when your offspring creates offspring that can also reproduce. So a single person would not be successful, ecologically speaking, until their children produced fertile offspring. The basic definition of a species is a group of organisms that cannot create successful offspring with other organisms. If there were not conformity in nature then this definition would not be valid because anything could create successful offspring with anything else. The leaves on the trees would not change color EVERY fall, sometimes they would change in the spring. Comparing Man's Law and the natural order is not really a comparison at all. Not only is man inherently a part of nature and has instincts and urges that are purely guttural and primal, but man being a part of nature is driven toward conformity. No one wants to be the antelope that is set apart from the

herd and left to be eaten by the lions. In nature there is a reason that animals run in packs or that plants are found in groups. Organisms are more successful when they are in a group of the same species. Doing so makes protection, finding food, and reproduction easier. If an organism does not conform or fit in with the group they are expelled and they will almost certainly die. In nature conformity is not just suggested... it is required. It could be argued that humans being of greater intellect then most other animals should not live to these standards but in a very basic sense we must. Yes, humans can think and reason and original thought that is put into action and made a truth should be the goal of all men, but at what cost? For a very great many the risk of being the antelope that is excluded from the herd is too great. Does this make those men less? Are they cowards? Or are they smart to fit in and survive? Survival comes in all different forms. Roger Chillingsworth is actually Hester Prynes legal husband, Roger Prynne, an intellectual recluse who passes himself off as a doctor in Salem. So who actually is Roger? Is he Roger the gentle man who keeps out of society or the vengeful doctor determined to find out the identity of his wife's defiler and bring him to justice? Back then you did not have to file at the Secretary of State to change your name and going to college to become a doctor was not strictly necessary. What society wants to believe a person's identity was not usually questioned. Roger just walked in and said Hi

I'm Roger Chillingsworth, I don't know anyone here, and I am a doctor. And BAM! It was all true. Identity is a tricky thing because it could be argued that everyone has two. Their true self and the one they show to society. No one really puts it all out there for the rest of the world to see and judge. There is always a bit they keep locked away just for themselves and maybe one or two others that are trusted implicitly. While identity is always changing it is significant that Roger is such a different person in Salem than he was in England. It is symbolic of the differences between England and the New World, while they are cut from the same cloth they are very different in terms of how things are done and the norms of society. While we do not know the background of all of the characters in this story, the ones we do know seem to change upon coming to America. Roger from recluse to revenge focus, Hester from dutiful wife to harlot and then to devout mother, and Dimsdale from a man of God to the father of a bastard daughter, they all do a complete switch. The winds of change are blowing wild and free.(CITATION NEEDED) This quote may be significant in describing the changes that take place in the restrictive England to the 'freedom' of America both in terms of the countries themselves and the people who moved to America. Pearl was the only character born in America and the fact that she is a child in the story is significant. She was a free spirit, an elf-likechild that was well liked by everyone. She had a bit of a temper and some shyness as well. She could be brave and

bold or stand back and just watch and observe. These doxologies are the basis of the formation of identity, they are choices that need to be made in order to find one's true self. America is in the same boat as little Pearl. It is in its infancy and just beginging to answer those questions and form its identity.