The Scarlet Letter, Chapters 1 and 2

In the first chapter the scene of a prison is described as one of the first places built by founders of a new colony. The town prison is portrayed as aged from its rusty iron spikes to the water stains adding years to its appearance. Though despite the gloomy and aged prison, there is one aspect of it that gives it a more positive feel, the wild rose bush. This rose bush brings hope to the dark environment of the jail as well as to those who walk in the prison doors.  Hawthorne introduces the first chapter at a prison-door to give the readers a feel of where this story will take place. As the chapter ends and progressed to the beginning of the second chapter, the dialogue of the townspeople begins. A number of townspeople are waiting for Hester Prynne to walk out the prison. In this chapter the people talk amongst themselves about the situation and gossip on what they thought Hester deserved. There were the women who believed her crime should have come with a harsher punishment. Amongst the gossip, the puritan women kept commenting that Hester’s embroidered “A” is just something and can just be covered up. They say she’s going to wear it out with pride rather than a symbol of shame. These reactions of the puritan society show how strict they were about their values.  Hawthorne describes Hester as woman different from all the others. She is the type of woman that goes with the flows of things unlike the rest of her society. She is very different and one of a kind girl. Though, in this situation, society put forth that Hester and her child made the world a darker place.

The Scarlet Letter

I feel this story is going to be one that I can't take my eyes off. The themes of this story seem very attention-grabbing. It sounds like a story people can relate to and have their own personal views about the situation. The plot about Hester Prynne and her situation of committing adultery while being away from her husband for two years, draws me into knowing how she will handle this. I've read from other sites that she ends up in jail for what she did. It’s totally unjust and unfortunate that she had to be punished for something such as that. She hasn't seen her husband in a really long time. Couples of today would probably call it quits if they had to go on without each other for a long time, unless they really love each other. Though, I guess it’s bound to happen with couples that distance from each other, that adultery happens. I find the controversy with this situation to be fascinating, especially how the puritans’ feel towards it. I feel Hester shouldn’t have been jailed for what she did. It’s not her fault that she and her husband were separated. Love works in strange ways and with Hester, love had different plans for her. Even if she was still with her husband, Hester’s heart belonged to another man who she bared his child. Love shouldn’t be punished even if it was a sinful kind of love.