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Sebastian Cabrera

Mrs. Klimas

English 10 (Pre-AP) H, Period 4

27 November, 2017

Puritan Intolerance

In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses a great deal of distaste

towards the oppressive Puritan intolerance of the townspeople. The Scarlet Letter’s main

protagonist Hester Prynne, a beautiful woman who has been accused of adultery, is punished by

being forced to bear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest that resembles the crime she has committed.

Through the following years, the letter has only brought cruelty, rudeness, and disrespect towards

Hester and her newborn child, Pearl. Even though the community chooses to poorly treat Hester,

she does nothing but selfless deeds such as helping the poor and caring for the sick. By carefully

analyzing and discussing Hawthorne’s language, he is able to convey his frustrations towards

Puritan intolerance through his selection of detail, tone, and use of contrasting images.

Hawthorne’s selection of detail provides further insight into the Puritan’s excessive

intolerance of Hester’s sin. Before she must step up to the podium to be judged upon, the

goodwives of the town gather and gossip, and one includes, “This woman has brought shame

upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the

statute-book” (45). The gossip of the goodwives show a great example of how unnecessarily

unforgiving the Puritans are willing to be to cleanse their town of the “impure.” Acts of adultery

would result in a small sentence in today’s legal system, but in the time of the Puritans many

would undoubtedly pursue a death sentence. Later at the same podium where Hester was

ridiculed and judged, Dimmesdale, the town’s revered minister, is handed back his own glove as
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the other minister jokes, “A pure hand needs no glove to cover it!” (130). Through the eyes of

everyone in town, Dimmesdale is the most selfless and pure being who even the angels heed to,

but in reality Dimmesdale is someone who has committed treason against one of the Puritan’s

most sacred rules. This adds in the element of irony and criticizes the hypocrisy of Puritan

intolerance as everyone in the town does not know that their beloved minister, Dimmesdale,

committed the same act of adultery as Hester, yet he has gone without punishment. With this, it

is made clear that Puritan law is poorly enforced and executed.

Hawthorne’s tone also makes it evident that he is only disgusted by Puritan intolerance.

The morals of the Puritans are questioned and criticized as Hawthorne mentions, “... disporting

themselves in such grim fashion as the Puritan Nature would permit, playing at going to church,

perchance, or at scourging Quakers, or taking scalps in a sham-fight with the Indians” (70). By

describing Puritan nature with the word “grim” and comparing an innocent action, such as going

to church, to a barbaric slaughter of Indians, Hawthorne effectively creates a critical tone.

Puritans claim that what they represent is a pure way to live a life, yet Hawthorne points out the

bigotry, discrimination, and ignorance that lingers within their lifestyle. During the following

years after Hester’s release from prison, Hawthorne describes her social life with, “...nothing that

made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those

with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and as

much alone as if she inhabited another sphere” (71). Words such as “banished” and “alone”

creates a sympathetic tone towards Hester as she is forced to endure so much cruelty from her

own community. Utilizing a hyperbole, Nathaniel Hawthorne is also able to exaggerate the

callous nature of the Puritans towards sinners by comparing Hester’s current isolated social

status to as if she lived on another planet. With no respect for the Puritans, Hawthorne
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unquestionably disagrees with how Puritans so righteously deal with the sinners of their

community.

The use of contrasting images by Hawthorne help compare the image of what Puritan

society strives to be to its cruel reality. Towards the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne begins to

describe the Puritan town with, “... the black flower of civilized society” (41). Hawthorne uses

symbolism to compare the Puritan lifestyle to a black flower, something that could be beautiful

but is stained with poor and unappealing qualities such as its overly-bearing intolerance. Also,

calling Puritans “the black flower” helps imply that they are a benighted society that lacks the

better qualities of civilized ones. But along the prison, one of the unpolished parts of town,

Hawthorne points out a rosebush and adds, “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet

moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of

human frailty and sorrow” (42). To Hawthorne, the rosebush resembles the hope of change and

prosperity. By, comparing the black flower to the beautiful rosebush, it helps visualize the

difference between Puritan society and civilized societies. Puritan lifestyle is plagued by its

qualities of intolerance, hypocrisy, and ignorance while organized societies thrive on what the

Puritans lack: acceptance, forgiveness, and equality. Because Hawthorne uses two compelling

images to represent the two societies, his impression of Puritan society is made certain that it is

not his ideal society.

Throughout the novel, Hawthorne utilizes several literary techniques to effectively

express his frustration towards Puritan intolerance. The precise selection of detail helps describe

the intensity of Puritan punishments and how they’re poorly enforced. A critical tone expresses

his great disdain for Puritan cruelty and hypocrisy. Finally, the use of contrasting images

distinguishes the qualities of Puritan society to one of a civilized society. By perceiving how the
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Puritans fail to treat its properly and fairly, it can be understood that the forgiveness and

tolerance of others can lead to beautiful and properful communities. Without a doubt,

Hawthorne’s frustrations towards Puritan intolerance is made evident throughout his novel, “The

Scarlet Letter.”