a timeless classic

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Scarlet Letter is on many must-read lists, as well as student reading lists, at least when i was in school (way back when) so i thought i should give it a go. It was tough getting started as Hawthorne's style is not at all modern, but as i got settled in, i was astounded at the relevancy of this story in our post-modern 21st century society!

The setting is the mid-17th century Massachusetts Bay colony near Plymouth. In spite of the opinion that the settlement of the North American continent by the Europeans was to gain freedom from state religion, the colonial government in Plymouth was essentially a male dominated theocracy, with laws derived directly from the clergy's interpretation of the Christian Bible. Women had no human rights, but at the same time were subject to the most severe punishments if they strayed from the narrow path given to them. (This would be utopia to V.P. Pence and other evangelical religious zealots of today.) The central character of this book is Hester Prynne, a woman taken in adultery and sentenced to imprisonment and then to spend the rest of her days wearing a scarlet color letter "A" on her clothing, marking her as a sinner to be shunned. A daughter is born of the "unholy" union, who suffers under the same mark of infamy as her mother. The male participant in this union endures his mark within himself, wearing a mask of hypocrisy for all those around him.

So how is this relevant today? Haven't we come light-years from this primitive view of gender, religious superstition and dogma, and theologically tainted government? A quick look around will reveal otherwise, that we really are not much different than the society portrayed in The Scarlet Letter. Religious influences, particularly those of evangelical and even fundamentalists, are deeply influencing our government on all levels. Unlimited, tax exempt money is funneled directly from religious special interests into the election of candidates that support the views of the evangelical religious industrial machine. We are rapidly approaching a theocracy in practice, if not in name and official status. So-called sinners have no hope of grace and/or forgiveness in most of the evangelical "christian" religious establishment. Scarlet sinners may achieve some degree of superficial grace and acceptance, but are viewed by most in their religious "peers" with the same tainted-ness as if they are wearing the scarlet letter on their person. Women are not held to the same standards as men in most cases. Women are not permitted positions of leadership in the most influential of these large religious organizations, the ones actively setting the policy and electing officials in our government. And what about people of color, or of non-traditional gender orientations? Or people of diverse religious traditions, or even non-religious world views? Nonconformists are viewed in our society with the same "A" on their heads as Hester Prynne was forced to wear on her cloak.

The parallels go on and on. One thing that is particularly instructive about reading a book such as The Scarlet Letter is in reading it not completely literally, but rather metaphorically or symbolically. Once one steps slightly apart from the specific facts and happenings of the story itself, one can see the parallels and the timeless message of the story. It is through this reading that we can so easily overlay the 17th century society with our 21st century society and find so many alignments that show just how little we have advanced as a species and society. It is both chilling and challenging, and should help inspire us to move forward and upward from our paralysis of the past. The Scarlet Letter is a timeless classic.


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