So, in chapter four, Hester is acting really weird and
she requires constant attention when she is back in the prison. They even said that she is acting as though
she is possessed, which I highly doubt. Seeing
as though she is neither mentally ill nor possessed, what causes her to act out
like this? Does she want attention from
someone, or is something truly bothering her.
They
then called in a physician by the name of Roger Chillingworth, who I think is
the mysterious man that Hester had a connection with in the crowd before. My question is, after reading the part of their
conversation, did they love each other? Were they in a relationship? Does he
feel betrayed? Is he father? And we find
out that he is not the father, and Hester again refuses to name the father of
her child.
We
also find out that Chillingworth was in fact Hester’s husband? This only confused me and made we ask more
questions. Did she leave him before she
became pregnant? Did she leave him
because she was pregnant and the child was not his? Was he the one to leave her? I don’t think that he was the one to leave
her because the townspeople don’t even know who he is! Did they not know that
she was married? And it’s a little bit
stalkerish of him to come out of nowhere and basically threaten her with the
fact that he is going to find the father of her baby. Seriously, this guy is really creepy.
In
chapter five, I was very upset with Hester for feeling upset and confused. In the beginning of the book when she first
came out of the prison, she seemed so shameless, and didn’t seem to care what
other people thought about her situation.
But it looks like she just gave up on life because she moved with her
baby to the part of the forest by the shore.
And the worst part is that she is almost contradicting herself. She knows that she can leave Massachusetts
and start a new life, but she chooses to stay here. Is she waiting for something happen?
There
is also the irony of her scarlet letter.
It was supposed to be a punishment for the crime she committed, but it
was so beautiful that everyone wants her to design their clothing. These people need to make up their minds,
they need to hate her or love her. Pick something,
and stick with it please. This reminded
me of “Easy A,” and she figured that if people thought she was the school
whore, she might as well the dress for the part. She tore up all of her clothing, and played
the role that everybody had given her.
In
chapter six they finally talk about her baby Pearl. I think that Pearl is sign that what Hester
did, really isn’t as bad as everybody is making it out to be. For someone who committed such a major sin,
shouldn’t karma have rewarded her with some horrible circumstance besides
everybody hating her? She has a
beautiful baby girl, and she doesn’t even have any physical defects. Surely this baby isn’t the representation of
her sin and guiltiness. Unless of course
the baby grows up to hate her because she doesn’t even know who her father is
and everybody makes fun of her. Then yea,
I guess Pearl would be her punishment.
Try to get even more specific with your thoughts. For instance, you don't like Chillingworth - creepy is the word you used. If you do a close analysis of him, what words are used? What colors do you imagine? Even his name "CHILL"ingworth - what connotation does that have?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion she probably though Chillingworth was cheating on her for another women since he was away for 2 years. I could be wrong though since back in those days it took longer than usual to get to a destination. Apart from that honestly the puritans back then they had their mind of being the most religious person so their minds weren't really made up on whatever to love her or hate her :/
ReplyDeleteI don't think Chillingworth was creepy at all but I can see how you would think so. He seemed very rational and he seemed to really care about Hester even though she betrayed him. I found myself asking a lot of questions when Chillingworth entered the story as her husband, as well. I don't get how he just magically shows up once she's being punished. I feel as though Hester doesn't love or ever had any love for Chillingworth, I feel like she didn't really even respect him that much either considering she cheated on him. I think she is in love with the father of her child and that's why she is protecting him, they probably aren't supposed to be together but she can't help who she falls in love with. I think that's also why she chose to stay in Massachusetts, she doesn't want to leave him.
ReplyDeleteI am also not a big fan of Chillingworth. After reading these chapters I get the impression that he was a lot older than Hester when they got married. They definitely did not get married for love, but how many people back then really did right? But that does not mean it isn't important to people. I think Chillingworth had a very "old timey" view about marriage and Hester did not share those views. He obviously finds this out when he comes back to town...
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this post. All the questions you asked were the exact same ones I kept asking myself. I actually didn't even notice the part about how she was acting while in prison so that was a new way of seeing things for me. I agree with how you felt once she left the prison since when she first came out she was really shameless the way you described it. I think she was shameless because she knew nobody was allowed to really hurt her while she was under the protection of the law. I really loved your last few lines. It didn't occur to me to even wonder how Pearl would become her punishment but yeah, I totally agree that if she grew up to hate Hester it would be a real punishment. Being a born outcast is bound to give you some resentment towards the person who caused you to become that.
ReplyDeletegood comments!
ReplyDelete