The Scarlet Letter

[Stephen Speicher 0]

Book suggested for rating by Thoyd Loki.

[Elizabeth 0]

The Scarlet Letter impacted my interest in American history is a great way!

I gave it a 10!

[Thoyd Loki 0]

I had to give it a nine, but I am not sure that it is the book's fault.

The prose was beautiful, and Pearl, the young child, was the most interesting child I had read in literature.

The plot was very well-crafted, and I like how the theme was painted through the action of the book. But I am not even sure that, at the end of it, I even understood the theme (it was pretty good when I was imagining what I anticipated to be the theme). I found the ending for the two main characters to be a mystery.

Roger Chillingworth dying shortly after the object of his hatred had expired-that was clear.

But, for what reason in particular did Dimmesdale die? Was it too late by the time Hester offered him a way out? Did he decide that he had to leave the world because he was bound by his guilt? Did he believe that he would never escape his tormentor except through death?

Why on Earth did Hester Prynne return to the town to wear the Letter for the rest of her time?

If they had been caught and executed in an attempt to escape abroad, that I could easily understand, and was what I was expecting. But, I am really at a loss what the message or slant of the book was without understanding the actions of these two at the end.

I have a real hard time understanding religious stuff, or people motivated by some religiously inspired guilt.

[Bill Bucko 0]

... But I am not even sure that, at the end of it, I even understood the theme ... I found the ending for the two main characters to be a mystery.

Roger Chillingworth dying shortly after the object of his hatred had expired-that was clear.

But, for what reason in particular did Dimmesdale die? Was it too late by the time Hester offered him a way out? Did he decide that he had to leave the world because he was bound by his guilt? Did he believe that he would never escape his tormentor except through death?

Why on Earth did Hester Prynne return to the town to wear the Letter for the rest of her time?

... But, I am really at a loss what the message or slant of the book was without understanding the actions of these two at the end.

I have a real hard time understanding religious stuff, or people motivated by some religiously inspired guilt.

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Hawthorne states his theme, in the last chapter: "Be true! Be true! Be true!"

But that is ambiguous. Does he mean: Arthur should have stood by Hester, even if it cost him his life? Or does he mean: Be true to the moral code you accept, whatever it is? I think he probably meant both.

Hester returned to the town partly because that was where she had loved Arthur ... and partly because she was practicing the sanction of the victim.

I am second to none in my scorn of religion. But I stand in stark, reverent awe of The Scarlet Letter. I think its deepest theme is: morality is important. Given its literary magnificence, the fact that the characters accept the wrong morality is almost irrelevant. The Scarlet Letter feeds my soul as no lesser work can.

I strongly recommend the 1979 PBS 4-hour miniseries, starring Meg Foster, John Heard, and Kevin Conway, with Hawthorne's words magnificently narrated by Joseph Sommer:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd

No more FAITHFUL and convincing adaptation of a great novel has ever been made! The music by John Morris is thrilling, intriguing, wrenching ... as is the novel.