It is rare that an author tells his audience the theme of his novel, However, in the last chapter, Hawthorne writes that one moral of this story is,"Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred." In other words, don't try to hide your sins from others. Both Hester and Dimmesdale exemplify this theme. By hiding his sin, Dimmesdale deteriorates because of his shame and eventually dies while trying to confess his wrongdoing. Hester, whose sin is out in the open, changes and becomes stronger. In the end, even the meaning of the scarlet letter changes to 'angel". Chillingworth, too, is an example of this because he hides his need for revenge. Once, Dimmesdale is dead, Chillingworth shrivels up because he has no more reason to live. Another theme closely connected to the first is the results of hypocrisy. Dimmesdale is the best example of this because he wants everyone to believe his is a saint yet he is hiding a terrible sin. However, Chillingworth is also a hypocrite because he pretends to be a caring doctor when all the time his motive is revenge against Dimmesdale. The novel has other themes. For those see the link below.
No comments:
Post a Comment