The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

This book was published in 1850, but reminded me of the much older "novelas ejemplares" by Cervantes that I saw (I'm not claiming I read them) in Spanish lit. Like the "novelas," The Scarlet Letter is also a tale with an overly obvious moral.

The story begins with Hester caring for her infant in a jail cell, both imprisoned because the child is illegitimate. The author only alludes to the crime that brought the child into the world. And by that point, the modern reader is already transported to a strange world, long past, where immorality was against the law. The story eventually unravels the truth about Hester's tragic past, and reveals the secret identity of the father.

The language and style seemed very archaic to me, but I've read much older writing, so maybe "old" doesn't truly describe the style. Countless cultural and historical references were lost on me, I'm sure. The narration is repetitious, and the whole story is saturated with drama, exaggeration and exclamation points. Endless references to the scarlet letter on Hester's dress reinforce her constant shame. The emotions of the characters are too dramatic to be realistic, but must be necessary for the plot.

I was amused by how Hawthorne took the role of omniscient narrator to be not only all-knowing, but also all-powerful. The sun comes out in happy scenes, and clouds darken all the sad scenes. Sun/happy. Dark/sad. Throughout the story, the sky collaborates with the author to reinforce the emotions of the scene, creating a sense that these events were so profound that the nature itself agreed. It's amusing, if not realistic.

I don't know Hawthorne's background, and I don't know his real purpose for this story. I read this book at a time when I was already thinking about honesty and the seemingly infinite forms of dishonesty. I've heard it said, "The mask wears thin," "Life will reveal who you really are," and "Once you lie, you have to lie again to cover up the fact that you are a liar." The tragedy in this story is not the one sin of passion, but the lie about the sin, and the misery of hypocrisy. In the narrator's words, "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."

Hester says, before revealing a shameful truth, "But a lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!" And the father of Hester's child says, "More misery, Hester! -- only the more misery!...As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs be a delusion...I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!...Even thus much of the truth would save me! But, now, it is all falsehood! --All emptiness! --all death!"

The saddest part of this story is that even though the cause of all the suffering is a knowledge of right and wrong, there is no redemption. The sinners are not forgiven. The sombre last words are the words on Hester's grave, written in stone "On a field, sable, the letter A, gules." (Sable=black, gules=red)

It appears that while Hawthorne wasn't presenting a Christian message, he understood the Bible. This story exemplifies Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death," and ignores the best part of the verse, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Thank God we can be made free from sin, and become servants of God, walk in a new life, and the end is everlasting life! That deserves an exclamation point!