Oh yeah, you can tell I'm back in Uni, now I'm doing proper books again! Don't worry - I'm still going to do Mockingjay (the final Hunger Games book), but I haven't finished it yet, so I'm doing this review first.
Sooo, anyone know what this book's about? If you've seen the film Easy A you might have a very, very vague idea about what happens, but that film really doesn't do this book any kind of justice. It's set in 17th Century America, in the town of Salem, where a young woman is being punished for having a child out of marriage. Hester Prynnehas been condemned to wear a red letter 'A' for the rest of her life, to remind her and everyone of her adulterous nature. The book follows her and her daughter as she becomes accustomed to it, and defined by it, and as she fights to save the honour of the man who fathered her child.
At first, I was a bit affronted, because Hester alone was being punished for this "crime", when we all know it takes two to actually conceive a baby. I thought that the ministers were just being sexist pigs, and were targeting Hester because she was a woman who made one mistake. However it seems that they had been asking her the identity of the father for a while, and she had resolutely refused to divulge the information.
As we find out, the father is a man called Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister of Salem, who the people seem to look to as some sort of saint or angel-in-waiting. It seems that Hester knew that if she said that it was him, the people of Salem would never believe her, as they wouldn't want to think that their perfect leader could possibly do something wrong. I also wondered a few times if they would suggest that Hester had bewitched him somehow, as I know that Salem is notorious for its witch-burnings, and I thought that maybe they would decide that she was in fact a witch who had taken a fancy to Dimmesdale and lured him to her. There is never actually a definitive answer as to why she put herself through so much suffering alone, but there are various theories abounding.
I thought the fact that Dimmesdale never told the public himself that he was the father (except for right at the end, when he was dying) showed weakness: he let Hester, who he seemed to love, be ridiculed and humiliated for seven years, without ever helping her in the slightest, just because he was afraid of the reaction of his people. Little bit douchey and weak. But then someone else pointed out that there were times when he tried to tell his congregation that he was a sinner, and was far worse than they, but the people just thought he was being modest, and that if he was a sinner, they must be much worse, and it was impossible to convince them. I still think he is a weak character (the fact that he is permanently ill and about to die throughout the whole novel doesn't help), but he is certainly redeemable.
Their daughter Pearl is a very strange child, constantly referred to as an elf-child or some strange, mystical being, but I just think that she seems strange in comparison with the strict, highly conservative, religious community she is brought up in. Being shunned her whole life doesn't help, and she has no conatct with other children, and therefore her connection with nature doesn't seem at all surprising to me.
It's certainly a slow book, and I only had a week to read it in, so I had to breeze through a large part of the descriptive bits, but I did find it interesting. Hawthorne's engagement with the psychology of the characters, and their mental disintegration/strengthening in Dimmesdale and Hester respectively was in some ways more exciting than a lot of the content of the novel. Watching Hester cope with the scarlet letter, and how the people of the town gradually begin to appreciate her humility, eventually seeing the 'A' to stand for 'able', or even 'angel' was even satisfying, as it shows us that, even in extreme conditions, people are still able to forget past wrongs and accept people if they're just strong enough.
Man, that sounds cheesy! Ok, I know this is a short review, but I have a lot of work to do!! Until next time (hopefully Mockingjay!!)
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