Ambiguism In Scarlet Letter

The society of prejudgments and pity, the place of sin and virtue, the center of true love and hate- these all are the ambiguities of the N.Hawthorne’s novel. The Scarlet Letter, among all these things, also presents the polysemantic view on the Native Americans. Many scholars noticed that Hawthorn refers to Indians throughout his work, but mostly all of them viewed these references as the necessary subjects for the historical aspect of the novel. However, I would argue that these references have a more specific and rectilinear nature. Additionally, the area, in which Hawthorne settles the novel- his birth town Salem - was not a random pick. The society of Salem shaped Hawthorne’s views on Indians. Salem has a long-term relationship with

In the Chapter III (where Indians presented with greater frequency), Hawthorne first describes them as the savage outcasts on the background of righteous civilized Puritans: “…on the outskirts of the crowd, [] an Indian, in his native grab, was standing [] By the Indian 's side [] stood a white man, clad in a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume” (69). However, as we can conclude from the chapter, the captivity of Chillingworth was not as “savage” as it should be. Indians had not killed or enslaved him, but more, brought him to Salem as the “companion”, not that much as the captive; taught him their “natural” medicine. And this herbal medicine from such uncivilized savages “had quite as large a share of his own confidence as the European pharmacopeia, which so many learned doctors had spent centuries in

Yes, he portrays the forest as an evil place, where Indians interact with witches and the Black Man. He, perhaps, sort of obligated to do so in order to transfer the historically right views of the Puritans. But the constant implicit statements illuminate that position. The entire life of Hester as the outcast on the edge of the town could be associated with the banishment of Native Americans. Her daughter Pear also described as the wild child, with an evil spirit, which prompted her. And eventually, this spirit would exalt her above the stubborn Puritan society. Hawthorne emphasizes that Pearl, like any savage Indian, is a human being who deserves the fair treatment. Generally speaking, the Salem of N.Hawthorne shaped some of his ideas and educated him about the problems American society has been facing for a long period of time. The nineteenth century Salem, with its constant presence of Native Americans, with its concerns about the position of the Indian in the American society, and also, perhaps, the feeling of guilt for Hawthorne’s own ancestors, provided the sphere, in which such an ambiguous novel with an implicit but necessary Indian context has been