Recommended: Edith wharton view of society
The Puritans arrived in America in the 16th and 17th centuries hoping create a purified version of the church as they believed the Church of England had still had too many components of catholicism. Humans are also invertly evil and this wickedness is displayed throughout many stories. Finally, moral values are also a central conflict to many stories. Puritanism, the evils of all humans, and moral conflict are a central themes to all three of The Crucible, “Young Goodman Brown”, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Although these stories are seemingly unrelated stories on the surface however when considering the under-the-surface meanings of these stories many similarities appear including the impact of Puritanism, the wickedness of all humans, and moral conflict.
Sin is an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. Despite the moral principles recognized in everyone, it is so often that individuals succumb to the instant gratification of sin. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the plot is centered around a group of Puritans living in Boston Massachusetts, where the avoidance of sin is one of their most absolute doctrines. He truly captures how sin affects individuals in a strict civilization through the use of various rhetorical devices, focusing on the symbolism of the characters, the distinct tone employed to convey specific messages, and the analogies further that emphasize and develop the effects of sin on individuals.
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are two texts that talk about religious topics, like sinning. The preachers in both texts are opposites. The texts describe both preachers and how they act upon the church. However, Edwards text was more effective because he used strong, visual words and a subjective tone to grab the reader’s attention and pull them in.
Puritan’s harsh beliefs represented the beginning of the Nineteenth Century in the newly colonized America. Their community ruled with an iron fist: unforgiving, pitiless, stern. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses his disagreement with puritan priorities by revealing the hypocrisy widely practiced throughout their community. Hawthorne’s utilization of dim diction aids in the establishment of his scornful tone, while inclusion of symbols and intricate juxtaposition all serve to accentuate the Puritan’s duplicity. All these factors combine to develop a critical tone which rebukes puritan society.
In both “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, there is an overarching motif of sin and the effects that sin has on the characters and the prose itself. Throughout both pieces of literature, the effects of sin are a large driving force that both progress and enhance the plot. In order to attain a deeper insight of the role of sin in both pieces of literature, it is necessary for the reader to not only look at the sins of the characters, but also look at the background and context of both prose, the treatment of the characters due to their sins, and the overall character development throughout the story. While the focal point of this essay will be to compare and contrast the role of sin in both prose, it is necessary to first look at the backgrounds and
You Be The Judge: An Investigation of Facade in “The House of Seven Gables” Self-awareness allows one to understand their own flaws and shortcomings. The ability to assess one’s weaknesses in character allows for reflection introspectively, creating valuable realizations about one’s own identity. However, some members of society lack this innate ability, rendering them unable to understand their own corruption. In an excerpt of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of Seven Gables,” the narrator crafts the appearance of morality in Judge Pyncheon, constructing the illusion of respectability, then increasingly displays contempt of the dark reality that “some one wrong act” truly defines Pyncheon’s character.
In the novels, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and The Crucible, by Arthur Miller are similar in the fact that they are both small towns from Massachusetts. Their society is both the same in reaction to when a person commits a sin. All of the community members support the idea of how they punish the “criminals”. Such as in the adultery that was committed in both stories by characters, the people’s way in punishing these crimes was persecution.
Masters of Carnal Obscurity The sweet facade of professionalism is everywhere. Confident text highlighting crisp labels, and scientifically inclined words are the pastries that feed our notions of normality. These fabrications are yet evident within the tender crease of holy robes upon the knee, or the fervent prayer of an aching minister. “The Crucible”, by Arthur Miller, cleverly disproves the common image of morality among church-going individuals, burrowing deep into the necrotic heart of corruption.
“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards both convey their ideas on sin and staying true to beliefs. Both authors approach this in different ways. While Hawthorne approaches these ideas through the minister and his black veil in a less straightford way, Jonathan Edwards challenges the reader’s understanding of Puritan ideals of religion by creating a sense of fear amongst his congregation through his anger and directness. Edward was more effective in his methods because he creates a sense of fear and fear many times forces change.
Individualism alongside critical thinking were seen as the main “enemies” of Bradbury’s conformist society. In his novel, Clarisse for one was the embodiment of “a free soul”. She came from a family of questionnaires and not followers. In a society where one of the biggest punishments is being removed from it or cast out, her acting out of norm made others find her antisocial. "I'm antisocial, they say.
In doing so, these girls disobey several puritanical commandments, the main one being not “bearing false witness against thy neighbor.” In “The Crucible,” the Judge Danforth’s obliviousness
Society is constantly under the criticism of authors. Many writers seek to expose certain aspects of American society and their scorn of it. Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald are renowned for their work on this subject. In The Great Gatsby and The Age of Innocence, Fitzgerald and Wharton reveal their cynicism of the societal elite; they find the elite as a severe detriment to American society. Through symbolism and the characterization of their main characters, Wharton and Fitzgerald similarly depict the societal elite as depriving American society from a promising future by refusing to let go of the past.
They are set during the Puritan time period in which people were very concerned with sin. For example, in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Mr. Hooper wears a black veil over his face which represents secret sin. He refuses to remove this veil and claims that “there is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils”(Hawthorne). This implies that everyone’s
In his short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses irony, symbolism, and stereotypical Puritan beliefs and behavior to expose humanity’s hypocrisy in an effort to create change. Irony is an extremely important literary element that Hawthorne uses in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Throughout the story, many different examples of irony are evident. First off, the
The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, functions as an evaluation of Puritan ideas, customs, and culture during the 17th century. Through this evaluation, we can get a good idea of what core values and beliefs the Puritans possessed, as well as the actions they take in cases of adversity brought about by “sinners”. Some Puritan virtues created stark divisions between groups of people, some of which led to discrimination under certain circumstances. One of the most prominent of these is the treatment and standards of men and women, a concept that surfaced during some of the major points in The Scarlet Letter. The divisions that were created by Puritan standards of men and women played a great role in shaping the plot of The Scarlet Letter, determining the fate of many of the characters.
