Important Literary Elements of The Scarlet Letter
Important Literary Elements of The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s revolutionary novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written in the time where there were no exceptions; either one was holy and abided the law, or one was a sinner, condemned by all. In that time, life was centered around an impermeable Puritan society, in which secrets and innermost thoughts were to be kept inside the self. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the story, tries to cope with the guilt that the town puts her through because of her sin. The other main characters of the story have to deal with their sins as well. Throughout the duration of the novel, the use of literary elements, such as motivation and conflict, form the foundation of the characters, as well as, the book itself, which creates a pillar of magnificence.
The motivation of the characters, the things that drive them, plays a key role in the development of the novel. First of all, Hester is motivated to live a life of purity by the love for her daughter. Hester begins to notice that Pearl acts like a little imp, or “a demon offspring,” so she makes sure to acts good and holy around Pearl. Hester Prynne also begins to raise Pearl through Christ, teaching her all she knows about Christianity, and taking her to Mass regularly. Next, Roger Chillingworth is motivated to track down and keep Reverend Dimmesdale in his grasp, by the fact that Dimmesdale seduced Hester to committing adultery. He does not, though, want revenge on Hester because she has already served her time by wearing the scarlet ‘A’ and being imprisoned. His actual sin is putting the matters into his own hands, when God should be the only one to judge people for their actions. In conclusion, the motivation of the characters is important to the novel because it explains their actions and feelings.
In addition, there are several main conflicts in the story that are essential to the development of the novel. To begin with, the town battles against Hester Pyrnne as a result of the sin she committed. The Puritan village is extremely against the sin of adultery, and therefore punishes Hester for her wrongdoing. Eventually, the town begins to accept her and she overcomes one of the harshest punishments, the scarlet letter. Also, Roger Chillingworth is in conflict with Reverend Dimmesdale from the first moment he knew...