The Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis

Literature is composed of both a plot and the writing itself. While many consider the storyline to be the most telling of how a character feels, the intentions of the author and the purpose of the writing, it is the writing itself, with its many rhetorical devices and strategies and basic elements, that tells more of the story—each element of writing unlocks more about the characters, the author’s intention and purpose of the text. This case especially holds true in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Based on the passage from the text, “Another View of Hester,” Hawthorne makes clear Hester’s negative feelings toward her purpose and outlook on existence, and that of women in general, through the use of clear, deliberate diction, accomplished

Throughout the passage, Hawthorne uses clear, distinct diction to create a sense of firmness to assert Hester’s views regarding her outlook on her own existence and that of women in general. Diction, a facet of writing comprised of both mood and word choice, is very influential in creating a framework for explanation and sustaining a particular message or theme. As a result, the author can ‘push’ a certain message, per se, to the reader by developing a distinct mood in writing. In the case of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne developed a negative mood to represent Hester’s negative view. For example, in the lines, “She discerns, it may be, such a hopeless task before her. As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down and built up anew. Then the very nature of the opposite sex, or its long hereditary habit, which has become like nature, is to be essentially modified before woman can be allowed to assume what seems a fair and suitable position,” Hawthorn creates a negative mood that establishes the implied impossibility of the task for women to obtain a suitable position in society—noting that society would have to fundamentally change before

Furthermore, the reader can piece together a full understanding of the purpose and viewpoints of the speaker. For example, when Hawthorne writes of the labyrinth in the mind, he evokes a dark, inescapable tone through his use of words like dark, deep, ghastly and nowhere. This dark tone paints a picture for the reader that makes Hester’s negative vantage point clear to the reader. One instance of this can be seen in the following: “ She discerns, it may be, such a hopeless task before her. As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down, and built up anew.” This passage evokes a tone of helplessness. Hawthorne explains how the only way to make progress is to rebuild the entire society from the ground up. The description of such extreme measures makes it clear to the audience Hester feels like the task is insurmountable—that the cause is hopeless. Such hopelessness manifests itself in the viewpoints of Hester Prynne and her outlook on women in general. For instance, “Indeed, the same dark question often rose into her mind with reference to the whole race of womanhood. Was existence worth accepting even to the happiest among them? As concerned her own individual existence, she had long ago decided in the negative, and dismissed the point as settled.” In this excerpt, Hawthorne continues the tone of hopelessness, emphasizing the immensity of the actions