Scarlet Letter Vs. Pi Patel Of Life Of Pi

If a person was to walk through a door, knowing they were to face a challenge ahead, are they more likely to overcome the difficulty with cowardice or courage? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you,” implying that, whatever the hardship or difficulty, what truly matters is one’s individual character rather than the event itself. If one person who was full of hope and perseverance walked through the door unaware of the coming challenge, they would surely have a higher chance of victory than another person who was fearful and pessimistic. However, Emerson’s statement is not universally applicable because, in some situations, things such as giving up,

Whether it be in literary or historical context, one can assess the validity of Emerson’s statement. Although the statement is usually valid in cases of attainable goals, the excessive courage, hope, or perseverance of a person can lead to their downfall. While protagonists of certain narrative stories, such as Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne or Pi Patel of Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, have clearly triumphed over their challenges through determination and good faith, other stories, such as those of both Gilgamesh and Oedipus Rex, suggest that their confidence and quality of character lead to their defeat. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester’s community, after the justice system charges her with adultery, shuns and isolates Hester, providing her with great difficulty, mentally and spiritually. However, after years of perseverance and self-discipline, Hester becomes an

In sixteenth century England, Queen Elizabeth I set out to stabilize the nation after its rough conversion to Protestantism. Through her own good character, intellect, and courage, she overcame opposing parties by both compromise and moderation. A few centuries later, Abraham Lincoln, a man devoted to his beliefs, both terminated slavery and reunited the country out of his own strength in character, confidence, and perseverance. After a hundred years, Martin Luther King Jr. saw that racism still divided his country, and nonviolently helped end discrimination politically and allow equal treatment for people of all colors through none other than his own hope and faith in his people and his God. While these historical figures proved that they can accomplish attainable goals through what lies inside of them individually, other figures certainly possessed a strong motivation, but ultimately failed. The globally known name Hitler reminds everyone of a man responsible for the deaths of millions of people just because he felt they were inferior; his downfall did not come from his corrupted beliefs, but rather that his goal of an Earth dominated by his “master race” was