Fifth Buisness by Robertson Davies, is a very complicated novel filled with many deeper meanings. This story is about the life of Dunstan Ramsey. Dunstan's most important early event is when he dodges a snowball, and this snowball ends up hitting Mary Dempster in the back and causes her to have her child prematurely and essentially go insane. Mary is the wife of the reverend, a true good man. The child Paul is born. As Dunny grows up in the library, he babysits and play with Paul and teaches him magic and different tricks. Dunny always feels a weird attraction for Mary and eventually ends up taking care of her when she goes insane and has no one left. He thinks of her as a saint, his saint. This eventually leads to his pursuit of saints. He does thorough research on saints and write many books about this topic while traveling the world to many various monasteries. Meanwhile, the kid who threw the snowball, Boy Stanton, ends up marrying the prettiest girl in the town, Leola, whom Dunny once had a relationship with, and becomes filthy rich. Boy becomes the ultimate politician and buisnessman, always making the right decisions and looking perfect in public. Dunny goes through many things, he is awarded the V.C. by the King of England, the highest honor awarded to a soldier, for something that he feels that was not a very big deal. Dunny also meets a great girl and almost marries until finally deciding that he was not actually in love. However, he thinks of her constantly as what he wish he wanted. Later on, Dunny meets Paul, who has now become a world famous magician but refuses to take care of his mother since he has run away from home. He also meets Liesl who he learns a lot from, and who essentially is his intellectual equal, which is very rare. Throughout all of these experiences, he is finally brought to the conclusion that he is the fifth buisness, the side actor in everyone's story without a real story of his own. This is difficult for him because he has lived his whole life thinking very selfishly thinking that everything is because or for him only to realize that he has simply been the side character in many people's lives without having a true story of his own.
This leads us to the meaning that we are all side actors in other people's lives and therefore everything we do affects other people whether directly or indirectly.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Summary and Analysis of Hamlet
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a great play with much meaning and depth behind it. This play is the story of young Hamlet, the son of a great king that has now deceased. His mother has married his uncle and his uncle has taken his throne. Hamlet continues to grieve while everyone else seems to have forgotten about this great loss. Then the older Hamlet approaches the younger Hamlet in the appearance of a ghost. This ghost tells Hamlet that his uncle actually killed him and that his death was no accident. The ghost then asks Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet agrees to do so, but this ultimately drives him insane.
"that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! " I think that this quote is a good example of Hamlet's beginning to go insane. This ultimate truth drives him crazy.
He thinks up elaborate plots to kill his uncle, the king. Meanwhile, the king struggles with why his cousin is so insane. Some theories are for grief of his dead father and of his unrequited love of Ophelia. Through some sneaking around, we find out that although he was really in love with Ophelia, this is not the ultimate reasoning behind his madness. Things really heat up when Hamlet has the actors perform a play that mirrors the actions that his uncle takes in order to kill Hamlet's father. Claudius, the uncle then finds out that Hamlet must know about his trecherous act and orders to have Hamlet killed when he goes back to school in Britain. However, Hamelt never makes it to Britain due to pirates. Hamlet returns and is challenged to a fencing match by Laertes because Hamlet accidently kills his father Polonious, and is partly responsible for Ophelia's suicide. Little does he know that Laertes and Claudius are planning to poison him during the match and take his life. This plan however fails and leads to the death of Laertes, Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude in the end.
Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with his true identity, and his true home
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote describes the fact that Hamlet knows that there is something wrong in Denmark, whether its because of Claudius's unjust role as king or because of his confusion of his real home.
However, the main theme and meaning in this novel is the inability to act. Hamlet, even though he is given many many opportunities to kill Claudius, he fails to do so on many occasions and shows us actually following through with certain actions is more difficult than it may appear.
"that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! " I think that this quote is a good example of Hamlet's beginning to go insane. This ultimate truth drives him crazy.
He thinks up elaborate plots to kill his uncle, the king. Meanwhile, the king struggles with why his cousin is so insane. Some theories are for grief of his dead father and of his unrequited love of Ophelia. Through some sneaking around, we find out that although he was really in love with Ophelia, this is not the ultimate reasoning behind his madness. Things really heat up when Hamlet has the actors perform a play that mirrors the actions that his uncle takes in order to kill Hamlet's father. Claudius, the uncle then finds out that Hamlet must know about his trecherous act and orders to have Hamlet killed when he goes back to school in Britain. However, Hamelt never makes it to Britain due to pirates. Hamlet returns and is challenged to a fencing match by Laertes because Hamlet accidently kills his father Polonious, and is partly responsible for Ophelia's suicide. Little does he know that Laertes and Claudius are planning to poison him during the match and take his life. This plan however fails and leads to the death of Laertes, Hamlet, Claudius, and Gertrude in the end.
Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with his true identity, and his true home
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." This quote describes the fact that Hamlet knows that there is something wrong in Denmark, whether its because of Claudius's unjust role as king or because of his confusion of his real home.
However, the main theme and meaning in this novel is the inability to act. Hamlet, even though he is given many many opportunities to kill Claudius, he fails to do so on many occasions and shows us actually following through with certain actions is more difficult than it may appear.
Summary and Analysis of Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a classic novel that has been passed done for many generations now. This novel is about a family with too many daughter than they know what to do with and their struggle to get them married in a society where social status and manners means everything.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This quote is essentially the catchphrase of this book. The drive behind all actions in this novel is justified and explained with this quote, that men need a good wife, and that women need a good husband.
The main character is Elizabeth Bennett, a rarely independent young woman in this society. The Bennett family is excited when they hear that a very wealthy man, Mr. Bingley is coming to town. The family immediatley makes plans to meet Mr. Bingley as soon as possible. It is not however, until the ball that any of the Bennett girls make a real impression on Mr. Bingley, and Jane, the oldest ends up making a huge impression on Mr. Bingley, essentially winning him over. Jane is invited to many more events and she ends up spending a lot of time with Mr. Bingley especially when she visits him and grows ill and must stay with them for a while. Elizabeth makes her first radical appearance here by running all the way to Mr. Bingley's manor a very unfeminine action, and completley different in this time period. Elizabeth, as different as she is, however attracts many suitors. First of which being Mr. Collins, the next in line to inherit all of the Bennett's property once Mr. Bennett passes. She however, shocks everyone by turning down his proposal of marriage. Everyone is even more shocked when Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth's best friend, and she accepts. Next comes Mr. Darcy, although they don't seem to get along at first. Mr. Darcy, although rich is known as being a snob, and a haughty man with no manners and therefore, although Mr. Darcy shows great interest in Elizabeth she continues to despise him.
“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men." This quote is the best explanation of the kind of character that is Mr. Darcy, a proud man who does not bother with who he deems unworthy.
She despises him even more when she meets her next suitor, Mr. Wickham and hears a bunch of what ends up being lies about how Mr. Darcy is a vilian. Mr. Darcy, however ends up being a good man to the core, being a great family man, and a truly caring man that even takes care of the Wickham situation when he runs away with another Bennett girl by paying off Wickham. Over a long complicated battle of wits, Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love and eventually agree to marry. In addition, Jane, who almost misses her opportunity to marry Mr. Bingley does eventually end up marrying as well.
The message behind this novel is a thoroughly debated topic. Jane Austen seems to play on both sides of the topic of feminism. Although Elizabeth is a strong independent character, she ends up very rich and happy in the end which leads us to believe that this novel is a strong statement for feminism, that you can be strong and indepenedent and still end up happy. However, in addition, Jane, who is the exact stereotypical weak, dependent woman of that time ends up very happy, wealthy and in love as well, which goes against her other statement stated above. I personally think that Jane Austen is advocating for feminism, while trying to not be too radical in her time period. I personally think that Elizabeth, being the main character teaches us that women should be strong, and indepenedent because they can still end up happy that way and in the case of this novel, become the most successful.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This quote is essentially the catchphrase of this book. The drive behind all actions in this novel is justified and explained with this quote, that men need a good wife, and that women need a good husband.
The main character is Elizabeth Bennett, a rarely independent young woman in this society. The Bennett family is excited when they hear that a very wealthy man, Mr. Bingley is coming to town. The family immediatley makes plans to meet Mr. Bingley as soon as possible. It is not however, until the ball that any of the Bennett girls make a real impression on Mr. Bingley, and Jane, the oldest ends up making a huge impression on Mr. Bingley, essentially winning him over. Jane is invited to many more events and she ends up spending a lot of time with Mr. Bingley especially when she visits him and grows ill and must stay with them for a while. Elizabeth makes her first radical appearance here by running all the way to Mr. Bingley's manor a very unfeminine action, and completley different in this time period. Elizabeth, as different as she is, however attracts many suitors. First of which being Mr. Collins, the next in line to inherit all of the Bennett's property once Mr. Bennett passes. She however, shocks everyone by turning down his proposal of marriage. Everyone is even more shocked when Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth's best friend, and she accepts. Next comes Mr. Darcy, although they don't seem to get along at first. Mr. Darcy, although rich is known as being a snob, and a haughty man with no manners and therefore, although Mr. Darcy shows great interest in Elizabeth she continues to despise him.
“Which do you mean?” and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men." This quote is the best explanation of the kind of character that is Mr. Darcy, a proud man who does not bother with who he deems unworthy.
She despises him even more when she meets her next suitor, Mr. Wickham and hears a bunch of what ends up being lies about how Mr. Darcy is a vilian. Mr. Darcy, however ends up being a good man to the core, being a great family man, and a truly caring man that even takes care of the Wickham situation when he runs away with another Bennett girl by paying off Wickham. Over a long complicated battle of wits, Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love and eventually agree to marry. In addition, Jane, who almost misses her opportunity to marry Mr. Bingley does eventually end up marrying as well.
The message behind this novel is a thoroughly debated topic. Jane Austen seems to play on both sides of the topic of feminism. Although Elizabeth is a strong independent character, she ends up very rich and happy in the end which leads us to believe that this novel is a strong statement for feminism, that you can be strong and indepenedent and still end up happy. However, in addition, Jane, who is the exact stereotypical weak, dependent woman of that time ends up very happy, wealthy and in love as well, which goes against her other statement stated above. I personally think that Jane Austen is advocating for feminism, while trying to not be too radical in her time period. I personally think that Elizabeth, being the main character teaches us that women should be strong, and indepenedent because they can still end up happy that way and in the case of this novel, become the most successful.
Summary and Analysis of Ceremony
The Ceremony by leslie marmon silko is a very complicated, complex novel in many ways and cannot be fully understood without a thorough understanding of native American culture. This story begins with Tayo, a native American war veteran who seems to be in great pain and sickness with no cure. Although other veterans feed this pain with alcohol and sex, Tayo wants something more, he wants a real cure. This leads to Tayo going to several essentially praciticers of magic that perform rituals on him and such in a hidden quest for Tayo to fully understand himself and the real problems behind his sickness. Here were a group of native Americans that had been treated like hero s during the war and essentially just thrown out afterwards.
"Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war. They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame the white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was the white people who took it away again when the war was over."
This quote perfectly explains the root of many of the native's problems which originate with the white people coming in and taking everything that once belonged to them.
Tayo's main issue is that since he is half native and half white, he does not entirely know which half he truly wants to embrace more and represent more. Through a series of revelations Tayo realizes that the white people are the real evil and the root of all the problems.
The main theme in Ceremony lies somewhere with preservation of culture and tradition as well as showing the destruction of the clash of two very different cultures. Throughout the novel, the main issues are that the white people have essentially detroyed all that the natives hold dear, and the natives struggle to hold on to what remains which is tradition. Tayo struggles and yet he is only fullfilled once he goes back to his roots of his true native culture which tells us that culture, even in a foreign world is a crucial part of our identity and so it is important to hold onto these things.
"Here they were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged to America the way they felt during the war. They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame the white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was the white people who took it away again when the war was over."
This quote perfectly explains the root of many of the native's problems which originate with the white people coming in and taking everything that once belonged to them.
Tayo's main issue is that since he is half native and half white, he does not entirely know which half he truly wants to embrace more and represent more. Through a series of revelations Tayo realizes that the white people are the real evil and the root of all the problems.
The main theme in Ceremony lies somewhere with preservation of culture and tradition as well as showing the destruction of the clash of two very different cultures. Throughout the novel, the main issues are that the white people have essentially detroyed all that the natives hold dear, and the natives struggle to hold on to what remains which is tradition. Tayo struggles and yet he is only fullfilled once he goes back to his roots of his true native culture which tells us that culture, even in a foreign world is a crucial part of our identity and so it is important to hold onto these things.
Summary and Analysis of Death of a Salesman
This fantastic play relates to just about every topic that can come up in literature. In fact this is a personal favorite of mine to use for essays. Death Of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is essentially once again about the failure of the American Dream. This is the story of a salesman named Willy Loman who is in pursuit of the American dream. Perfect family, perfect house, great living. He wants it so bad, that he lives in the past, where everything was good and the hope of the American dream was live and very realistic. He cannot get over passed opportunities or missed chances such as when his brother Ben asks him to go to Africa with him. Willy says no and regrets this for the rest of his life wondering if he had gone to Africa, if he would have gotten rich. Additionally, his eldest son, Biff, who had so much potential to be greatly successful, at least in Willy eyes because he has all the attributes that Willy sees as essential for a great man fails miserably because of failing math and not going to summer school due to an unfortunate experience where he walks in on his idol, his father in the greatest act of betrayal, with another woman. Biff accepts that although his father was at wrong, ultimately his failure is not anyone's fault but that he simply was never meant to be successful and never had the skills to be successful.
"I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be . . . when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am." This is the part where Biff comes up with the revelation that what he has believed all his life is wrong.
This adds to the theme that the American dream is unachievable no matter how hard someone may try. Additionally Willy is fired but not after finding out that how successful he was in his head was never a reality. Willy constantly talks about his success in the good old days only to find out that he was never actually as successful as he thought.
"And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?"
This shows Willy's false views and false ideas about the American dream that once again add to the fact that although the American dream may slightly differ from person to person, it is still generally the same and impossible to achieve.
"I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be . . . when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am." This is the part where Biff comes up with the revelation that what he has believed all his life is wrong.
This adds to the theme that the American dream is unachievable no matter how hard someone may try. Additionally Willy is fired but not after finding out that how successful he was in his head was never a reality. Willy constantly talks about his success in the good old days only to find out that he was never actually as successful as he thought.
"And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. ’Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?"
This shows Willy's false views and false ideas about the American dream that once again add to the fact that although the American dream may slightly differ from person to person, it is still generally the same and impossible to achieve.
Summary and Analysis of The American Dream
The American Dream by Edward Albee, is a typical story about an absurdly average American family. This family is completely average in every way possible, standard of living, social status, etc. This story starts off with the average family, that aren't even given names but are simply called mommy and daddy living with grandma, who appears to be losing her mind. She brings in lots and lots of boxes that mommy and daddy are not aware of what they are exactly nor do they have the attention span, or focus ability to find out. The story progresses with a series of essential meaningless conversations, about basically nothing. However, we do learn some insight into the characters of mommy and daddy through these introducing conversations. We learn that daddy is essentially immasculated mostly due to how mommy treats him and we learn that mommy is very needy and does very little thinking for herself.
"WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?" This type of quote perfectly describes mommy and daddy relationship together.
She has thoughts of her own but when higher authority figures like Mrs Barker tell her something, she automatically takes her word for everything she says. They start of having these conversations while waiting for something, although they soon forget what exactly it is that they are waiting for until the Mrs. Barker finally comes. Then they have an absurd conversation about why exactly they called Mrs. Barker here in the first place, because they seem to have forgotten. Finally the truth is revealed. It seems that mommy and daddy have had a child in the past, that they ended up killing brutally due to his inappropriate actions, and they have decided to adopt another child and therefore called Mrs. Barker. Meanwhile, grandma meets the young man who seems to be the long lost twin of the murdered baby. The murdering of the twin seems to have damaged the young man so that he is considered damaged goods.
"I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled. I have, now, only my person, my body, my face. I use what I have I let people love me I accept the syntax around me, for while I know I cannot relate;I know I must be related to."
This quote is the exact explanation of how the young man has been changed. In addition, mommy constantly talks about satisfaction and how she is never satisfied. This can be interpreted in many ways. It can be sexually since clearly daddy has lost his manhood and cannot please mommy. This can also be interpreted in terms of social status and things of that nature. Daddy always talks about wanting to achieve all these goals of running for a public office and things of that nature and yet he never actually takes any action.
Essentially, overall, this play is the typical thought of the American dream completely failed. This tells us that the American dream is either unattainable or is a very unrealistic goal. Mommy and daddy fail at achieving the American dream in every way imaginable and so that tells us that the American dream is precisely that, a dream, and that while its something to shoot for, it is never actually attainable.
The author does a great job of getting this idea across, this is seen simply even with the character names. By purposely keeping the character's names ambiguous, this shows us that this could potentially be any American family, and that this story applies to all. That many pursue the American dream and yet no one actually succeeds.
"WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn't he a masculine Daddy?" This type of quote perfectly describes mommy and daddy relationship together.
She has thoughts of her own but when higher authority figures like Mrs Barker tell her something, she automatically takes her word for everything she says. They start of having these conversations while waiting for something, although they soon forget what exactly it is that they are waiting for until the Mrs. Barker finally comes. Then they have an absurd conversation about why exactly they called Mrs. Barker here in the first place, because they seem to have forgotten. Finally the truth is revealed. It seems that mommy and daddy have had a child in the past, that they ended up killing brutally due to his inappropriate actions, and they have decided to adopt another child and therefore called Mrs. Barker. Meanwhile, grandma meets the young man who seems to be the long lost twin of the murdered baby. The murdering of the twin seems to have damaged the young man so that he is considered damaged goods.
"I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled. I have, now, only my person, my body, my face. I use what I have I let people love me I accept the syntax around me, for while I know I cannot relate;I know I must be related to."
This quote is the exact explanation of how the young man has been changed. In addition, mommy constantly talks about satisfaction and how she is never satisfied. This can be interpreted in many ways. It can be sexually since clearly daddy has lost his manhood and cannot please mommy. This can also be interpreted in terms of social status and things of that nature. Daddy always talks about wanting to achieve all these goals of running for a public office and things of that nature and yet he never actually takes any action.
Essentially, overall, this play is the typical thought of the American dream completely failed. This tells us that the American dream is either unattainable or is a very unrealistic goal. Mommy and daddy fail at achieving the American dream in every way imaginable and so that tells us that the American dream is precisely that, a dream, and that while its something to shoot for, it is never actually attainable.
The author does a great job of getting this idea across, this is seen simply even with the character names. By purposely keeping the character's names ambiguous, this shows us that this could potentially be any American family, and that this story applies to all. That many pursue the American dream and yet no one actually succeeds.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Open Prompt Revision
2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Symbols are found everywhere, in real life as well as in literature. They represent an idea, or something much larger than just the outward appearance of the symbol. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Scarlet A upon Esther’s bosom is an obvious symbol in the novel but it also acts as a symbol beyond its literal meaning, giving great meaning to one little letter.
The scarlet letter is initially placed on Hester’s bosom as a symbol of shame for her sin of adultery. She is forever cursed to wear the letter as a symbol of her sin and yet she takes on this punishment confidently, and bravely. This courage causes the meaning of the letter to change throughout time. Hester wears the letter confidently making it part of her identity. As time passes and people forget about the meaning of the letter they begin to start up rumors on what it may mean. Instead of it being a sign of her sin and her shame, it becomes a sign of her being able and kind and hardworking. The letter loses its old meaning and gains it’s new opposite meaning.
This shift in meaning of the letter emphasizes a major theme in the story that criticizes the society present in this novel. The society feels the need to come up with a symbol of her adultery as if the child that was perceived from the adultery was not symbol enough. In addition, the symbol that initially was supposed to make Hester feel guilty, becomes a good symbol that gives her a reputation of a handworker in the village. This just additionally shows how ineffective the society was at this time period. This also touches on another theme of this novel of how tackling adversity head on with courage helps you get through it and maybe even turn a bad thing into a good thing. This is shown with Hester’s confident attitude throughout her life. No matter how badly the village treats Hester, she remains kind and hard working thus changing her image from an adulteress into a great woman to look up to.
This also shows how the meaning of a symbol is up to interpretation. As Hester proudly showed everyone, she changed the meaning of her letter from what others saw it as to what she wanted it to stand for. This shows another great theme of this novel, which is that you can make up for any mistake if you work hard enough to repent.
Therefore, symbols tend to stand for many things. In the case of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A stands for the adultery committed by Hester as well as eventually becoming a symbol of Hester’s hard work and overcoming adversity.
Symbols are found everywhere, in real life as well as in literature. They represent an idea, or something much larger than just the outward appearance of the symbol. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Scarlet A upon Esther’s bosom is an obvious symbol in the novel but it also acts as a symbol beyond its literal meaning, giving great meaning to one little letter.
The scarlet letter is initially placed on Hester’s bosom as a symbol of shame for her sin of adultery. She is forever cursed to wear the letter as a symbol of her sin and yet she takes on this punishment confidently, and bravely. This courage causes the meaning of the letter to change throughout time. Hester wears the letter confidently making it part of her identity. As time passes and people forget about the meaning of the letter they begin to start up rumors on what it may mean. Instead of it being a sign of her sin and her shame, it becomes a sign of her being able and kind and hardworking. The letter loses its old meaning and gains it’s new opposite meaning.
This shift in meaning of the letter emphasizes a major theme in the story that criticizes the society present in this novel. The society feels the need to come up with a symbol of her adultery as if the child that was perceived from the adultery was not symbol enough. In addition, the symbol that initially was supposed to make Hester feel guilty, becomes a good symbol that gives her a reputation of a handworker in the village. This just additionally shows how ineffective the society was at this time period. This also touches on another theme of this novel of how tackling adversity head on with courage helps you get through it and maybe even turn a bad thing into a good thing. This is shown with Hester’s confident attitude throughout her life. No matter how badly the village treats Hester, she remains kind and hard working thus changing her image from an adulteress into a great woman to look up to.
This also shows how the meaning of a symbol is up to interpretation. As Hester proudly showed everyone, she changed the meaning of her letter from what others saw it as to what she wanted it to stand for. This shows another great theme of this novel, which is that you can make up for any mistake if you work hard enough to repent.
Therefore, symbols tend to stand for many things. In the case of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter A stands for the adultery committed by Hester as well as eventually becoming a symbol of Hester’s hard work and overcoming adversity.
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