Red characters

Author: (American) Hawthorne
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The Scarlet Letter is Hawthorne's major novel. Upon its publication in 1850, Hawthorne achieved immediate fame and became one of the most renowned writers of his time. The setting of the story is Boston in the mid-1650s, where the residents are the second-generation immigrants who settled there between 1620 and 1630. They were Puritans from England who had fled James I's persecution and came to the New World with the ideal of creating a heaven on earth (i.e., Calvinism). They are known as the "Pilgrim Fathers." Initially, the Puritans in England were rebellious against the papal autocracy and opposed the corrupt social atmosphere. They valued reason, rejected emotions, upheld ideals, and prohibited desires. Later, however, they became extreme, not only persecuting heretics but even imprisoning women for smiling in the streets and whipping children for playing.
At the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, readers are immediately struck by the sight of the prisoners' houses, which were built alongside the cemetery when the new colony was being established. This "dark flower of civilized society" had never experienced its own youth, as it was inseparable from the word "sin." Its grim and sinister appearance, along with the overgrown and unpleasant weeds on the grass in front of it, added to the somber and desolate tone. Yet amidst this gray and black, a thicket of roses stood proudly, "blooming with the flowers of a jewel ship," symbolizing human morality.
Next, the protagonist, Hester Prynne, emerges, holding her newborn Pearl. "Her beauty was so radiant that it seemed to cast a halo over her misfortune and shame," evoking the image of the Virgin Mary." This vivid description not only presents the backdrop of the characters' actions but also prompts readers to reflect on the themes of the work. This technique of using slightly mystical natural scenes to set the environment, enhance the atmosphere, and highlight the characters' psychology is ubiquitous. Notably, the two meetings between the minister Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl in the darkness of night and the dense forest: the simultaneous appearance of the key characters connected by the scarlet letter creates a dramatic climax, weaving the entire story into a tightly structured narrative.
The author also employs this technique to portray the characters. The moral and ethical conflicts, as well as the friendships and enmities among them, are subtly conveyed, while the major characters' symbolic connections to the scarlet letter are revealed through individual psychological exploration, dual conflicts, and the intersection of their simultaneous appearances. The book features no more than a dozen characters, with no more than ten having names. It is worth noting that four characters—the Governor Bellingham, the Reverend Wilson, the elder Mrs. Simmons, and the youngest and most compassionate girl—are the counterparts or shadows of the four major characters: Pearl, the Reverend Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Hester. The four major characters form two pairs, allowing their personalities to be fully expressed in a mutually complementary manner.