The Scarlet Letter And Bartleby, The Scrivener - 1251 Words

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne narrates a Romantic story of a young woman in the Puritan Era who is convicted of adultery and has to face being a social outcast. Herman Melville examines the story of Bartleby, a copyist who mysteriously refuses to work and is, therefore, put in jail. In The Scarlet Letter and Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street, Hawthorne and Melville use the characterization of Hester Prynne and Bartleby and their independent behavior to critique the effect society’s evils have on the Romantic ideal of individualism in order to remind their readers that despite the human inclination to conform to the community, self-reliance is more important than the status quo to support progress. By using†¦show more content†¦The townsfolk, representing society, demonstrated their evil through their lack of empathy. In the quote, Hawthorne lists one of the unreasonable punishments that society created for an instance of human frailty. In hi s eyes, Hester deserves no punishment, let alone â€Å"the brand of a hot iron†. Hawthorne uses this proposed punishment as an example of society’s wickedness and negativity. However, Hester, an individual, is shown to be â€Å"tall†, â€Å"elegant†, and â€Å"dignified†, despite being just released from jail. Hawthorne uses these majestic features to embellish Hester and display the beauty of individuality, in order to promote the idea of individualism over collectivism. Furthermore, the discussion among the women in the crowd also indicates Hawthorne’s commentary about society’s progress. The lack of agreement among the townsfolk, along with their senseless punishments for Hester, reveals their inability to come to a reasonable conclusion and achieve any progress. Later in the novel, Hawthorne continuous to glorify the individual and condemn the effects that society has on them. When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the forest, they ar e far away from society, letting them speak and act freely. Since they are without any pressure from society to conform, Hester removes her scarlet letter and with the sense of freedom is able to express her true self and beliefs: â€Å"The stigma gone, Hester heaved a long, deep sigh,Show MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter And Bartleby The Scrivener1238 Words   |  5 PagesIn The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† by Herman Melville, the two main characters face conflicts with society. In the â€Å"Scarlet Letter†, Hester Prynne, a young woman, is forced to bear a symbol of her affair with Reverend Dimmesdale on her chest and face public humiliation for the rest of her life. â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† is a story about a man who is a misfit, struggling to fit into society as a scrivener for Wall Street, who eventually dies in a prison. BothRead MoreHerman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne Show the Unbridgeable Gap Between Hum an Desires and Human Possibilities and the Mixture of Good and Evil in Even the Loftiest of Human Motives987 Words   |  4 Pagesand Melville In both works, â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† and The Scarlet Letter, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne show the unbridgeable gap between human desires and human possibilities and the mixture of good and evil in even the loftiest of human motives. In â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† by Herman Melville, this idea is shown by how the Lawyer keeps Bartleby as one of his employers, even though Bartleby does not deserve to still be working. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, this ideaRead MoreRelationship Between Society And The Individual2194 Words   |  9 Pageshas always been a relationship between the individual and society that is reflected in the written pieces of each time, revealing the connection between oneself and the collective spanning across the centuries. ‘The Scarlet Letter’, written in a Puritan world, and ‘Bartleby, The Scrivener’, written in capitalist America, are two key examples of literature that expose, deta il and discuss the relationship between society and the individual in American history. Alexis de Tocqueville (1835), a French politicalRead MoreIndividualism In Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter And The Scrivener1699 Words   |  7 Pagesindividualism. Within this movement, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville’s Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, the characters set at the center of their respective narratives both challenge societal prejudices through actions different from the social norm. Hawthorne’s protagonist, Hester Prynne, is met with disgust and disdain from the Puritan community after committing only one sin; contrarily, Melville’s Bartleby is first met with awe and love from his boss on WallRead MoreBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 Pagesbetween Native Americans (or American Indians) and European explorers and settlers who had both religious and territorial aspirations - Native American oral literature / oral tradition - European explorers’ letters, diaries, reports, etc., such as Christopher Columbus’s letters about his voyage to the â€Å"New world†. - Anglo (New England) settlers’ books, sermons, journals, narratives, and poetry Native American / American Indian oral literature / oral tradition creation storiesï ¼Ë†Ã¨ µ ·Ã¦ º Ã§ ¥Å¾Ã¨ ¯ Ã¯ ¼â€° Read MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesThe curious incident of the dog in the night-time AF, APB YA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-time Hardy, Thomas Jude, the obscure AF Hardy, Thomas Tess of the D’Ubervilles AF Hawthorne, Nathaniel The scarlet letter AF Hemingway, Ernest, A clean well-lighted place, in Complete short stories AF Hinton, S.E. 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