1.
The impact of a fatherless home has consequences that sometimes cannot be realized until much later in life. In addition, when a father who is in the ministry, commits a grievous sin, it affects not only his family's views but the views of his congregation as well. The impacts of sins of the clergy are as consistent today as they were in time period this was written. .
Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister, is the main character. While holding the high office of a minister he commits a grievous sin, the act of adultery. The impact of adultery has far reaching effects. Its affects Dimmesdale's role as a spiritual influence to Hester, the woman he violated, and her views and relationship to God. It impacts the relationship with Pearl, the illegitimate child he fathered through this act, and her perception of God and man. However, most damaging is the distorted view he has of his relationship to God and the lack of understanding of God's grace. Because of this understanding he will lead a life in which hypocrisy and guilt will be the chains that bind him. .
It is important to note that Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author, writes from a .
2.
Puritan frame of reference. He has been reared in a Puritan home. The Puritan view stressed rules and regulations with regard to leading a successful "religious" .
life. Women were not a loud to wear any type of fancy clothing nor jewelry (Internet Source 1). To wear make-up was to be considered vain or a harlot. Men were not a loud to shave their beards. Bright clothing was not permitted because it drew attention to ones" self and this again was consider vain. Women were not permitted to cut their hair, and when out in public they must wear a scarf. .
During the 1850's Puritan goals were to purify the Church of England (Internet Source 2).
" (The Scarlet Letter). ... " (The Scarlet Letter). Women were allowed to conduct financial dealings and other matters if their fathers or husbands were absent or ill. ... " (The Scarlet Letter). ... Hester stated that "I do talk to God" (The Scarlet Letter). ...
""Thy Heavenly Father sent thee!... "I have no Heavenly Father!'' ... Both can be true; if she was devout, God is her father but in the earthly world He could not be Pearl's actual father. "Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since " (147). The truth of Hester's scarlet letter changed; it no longer represented her weakness a...
The novel tells the story of how the March family lives; the four girls and their mother are left to survive after their father has left to fight for his country. ... Marmee, their mother, comes home with a letter from Mr. March, the girls' father, who is serving as a Union chaplain in the Civil War. This letter inspires the girls to bear their burdens more cheerfully and not to complain about their poverty. ... During the time Marmee is absent; Beth develops scarlet fever and is brutally ill. ...
