They followed the teachings of God in the Bible very strictly. ... Most of the smaller elements he used to convey his themes stem from his use of his opinions and criticism of the Puritans. ... Hypocrisy being a major element, Hawthorne also used guilt, confession, and sin as smaller elements to get his feelings across on the Puritans" shortcomings. ... By using a minister in this role, Hawthorne shows that even the man who teaches the community about God's word and the way they should act is cowering behind a sin and just watching as a young woman's life is ruined. ...

• Word Count: 3188
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hester has been accused of adultery and the small child in her arms is illegitimate.   In the third chapter, a small, deformed man accompanied by an Indian is identified in the crowd. ... Chillingworth, intent on revenge on Hester's lover, settles in Boston, while Hester, supporting her family by working as a seamstress, moves to a small cottage on the outskirts of town. ...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

Drawn by his own cords of fear and longing, man will imagine that he is tired of the light and his small, familiar world.3 "No amount of rationalization... or Freudian analysis" can overcome "the thrill of the chimney-corner whisper or the lonely wood."4 Why? ... Richards relates the story of how, when she was young, she always said she wanted to talk to God. Because of this, she claims that "when things started coming to me, they came to me as voices. It's the voice of God talking."19 At the age of fifty-two, Richards can still support herself and her husband with the money sh...

• Word Count: 3126
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Coverdale does recognize that he said these mean things out of jealousy, admitting, that, "Yes; it was out of a foolish bitterness of heart that I had spoken- (117). ... Although the relationship of Priscilla to Coverdale is important because it is through his eyes that we, the readers, see the story, their relationship is not as important as the two to be discussed below, because, as Coverdale says, "Priscilla's heart was deep, but of small compass; it had room but for a very few dearest ones, among whom she never reckoned me- (133). ...

• Word Count: 4739
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography

Chapter One: The Prison Door Summary A large crowd of Puritans stands outside of the prison, waiting for the door to open. The prison is described as a, "wooden jail...already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy fr...

• Word Count: 5572
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: High School