2006-12-02 08:42:18 · 4 answers · asked by calvie calv! 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
human nature/ sin?
2006-12-02 08:54:27 · update #1
That everyone is guilty of sinning in the most literal terms. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester's guilty of adultery. The good Arthur Dimmesdale is guilty of adultery. A slew of other characters are guilty of being hypocratic sinners themselves. In the Minister's Black Veil, Reverend Hooper tries to conceal his sins literally but simultaneously points out that everyone is "hiding" something.
2006-12-02 09:06:12 · answer #1 · answered by jaded1004 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
His view of of the world was colored by the small New England town of Salem where he lived. Life in Salem as n many small towns was about appearances and gossip was rife. His novels often set appearances against reality as they do in the two examples above. The reality of a woman condemned by her community is not the "A" she wears on her clothes but the fact that she was abandoned by a supposed man of God. It is the "good" citizens that make her life difficult while she cares for her daughter,
and her badge of shame eventually becomes a sheild for her against dehumanizing society.
The reality of the the veil in The Minister's Black Veil is that far from hiding something, it reveals how uneasy Parson Hooper's friends and family are seeing it. They assume that his wearing it is caused by something loathesome in his past - but that assumption isn't borne out in his life or death.
Hawthorne used contrasts throughout his novels and stories to illustrate the difference between what we see and what is real.
2006-12-02 17:07:27 · answer #2 · answered by Holly R 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
view of what?
2006-12-02 16:50:59 · answer #3 · answered by Zorlinda 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes....No.....wait what were you asking?
2006-12-02 16:55:14 · answer #4 · answered by Scalder 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋