Heroes and Heroines take on many different personas in different literary works. Some of the characters can start out weak and make their way up the mountain to courage. Others can be overly brave in the beginning and end up falling off the cliff to cowardice. In Nathaniel Hawthorn’s work, The Scarlet Letter, we see heroes of sorts. I consider the strong-willed Hester, timid Dimmesdale and feisty Pearl to be the heroes.
1. An allegory of a hero can be seen in the introduction of the Scarlet Letter. The following is a description of the land around the prison:
“much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. …on the [other] side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom”(Scarlet Letter Chapter 1).
I interpret this description to mean how one person can be beautiful and strong in the midst of ugliness and weakness. Among the weeds of society there can be those that are beautiful and innocent. Hester would undoubtedly be the mightiest character, for her strength gives her the energy to live on in her pain and suffering. The townspeople, “said that it [The Scarlet Letter] meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength”(Chapter 13).
Little Pearl is definitely the one with the most enthusiasm and zest for life for she has a fountain of youth and little demon powers. Her youth contributes to her desire to play in tide pools and dance around with out a care in the world. Her little monster demons make her naughty, mischievous, and careless. She walks on a grave and talks when she should not. Even though there are these negative qualities, I still consider her soul to be the most innocent and pure of all the characters. As a child, she has not really sinned. In contrast, all the adults have hidden immoralities. Interestingly enough the public sinner, Hester, has the ability to see the private sins of the people around her. Master Dimmesdale fights his own private battle with sin in total isolation from the public eye and also endures the guilt that comes from being the towns moral leader. I see Dimmesdale as a hero for his strong intellect and the larege amount of purity shining forth in his blackened heart. His actions of constantly touching his heart and wincing under the pain of his sin can only slightly undermine his being a hero. A powerful description of his weakness is understood in the following quote:
Confronting the emaciated and white-cheeked minister, with his low, dark, and misshapen figure, — “a sickness, a sore place, if we may so call it, in your spirit, hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in your bodily frame. Would you, therefore, that your physician heal the bodily evil? How may this be, unless you first lay open to him the wound or trouble in your soul?” “Not to thee! But, if it be the soul’s disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul! He, If it stand with His good pleasure, can cure; or He can kill!”
In contrast to the minister’s failing health, his religious convictions are as healthy and strong as ever. This is his hero-hood.
“Reader, it is impossible we should know what sort of person thou wilt be…”(Pg. 337). First off, Fielding’s referring to himself as we is quite intriguing. Truly he has multiple personalities. Secondly, the hardest task of a writer is determining how to write to the goal audience; this is even harder when you are not of the group you are writing to.
“Susan related the whole story, which the reader knows already”(Pg. 343). Fielding is a kind author in that he does not go over what he has already said. Most often, this would bore the reader. Sometimes, mental refreshments help the reader maintain the whole complicated story in his mind.
“The Landlady fell severely on her head”(Pg. 349). Most fortunate souls do not fall on their head severely, and for the unfortunate soul who does, this might be the last act before they depart from this present world. A fear of the elderly is that they will fall; this causes them to sign up for services where they wear a wristband that allows them to alert help.
“I spoke on your account more than my own”(Pg. 352). This reminds me of a lawyer whose job is to defend the actions of others. An interesting case arises when a lawyer breaks the law; do they represent themselves or do they get a lawyer? In childhood, the good little kid will sometimes stake their honor to protect the actions of a naughty kid.
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