The Scarlet Letter: The Unavoidable Truth :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter The Unavoidable TruthChapter II (pg. 59, 60, 64)     The isolation and courage that Hester Pryne felt when she walked to thescaffold to face reality brought surface my deepest sympathy and respect for her.Hester, followed by a crowd of "stern-browed men," "unkindly visaged women," and"curious school boys," begins the walk from the jail to the scaffold. She seemsto be proud and dignified. However, internally, she feels great agony, for shewas despised and mocked by the accusing Puritans. She finally arrives at thescaffold, displaying the two results of her adultery the scarlet letter and herchild, Pearl. In order to escape her isolation, Hester goes into her inner souland into the past. In Hesters " sable mirror" of imagination, she remembers herold home in England, her mother, her father, and most of all, her own youthfulface. Then, she thinks of the marital life with her husband, a "tuft of greenmoss on a crumbling hem in". The "green moss" symbolizes Hesters youth, whichwas clinging onto the "crumbling wall", which represents her aged husband. Shetries to loser herself in past memories, but reality rears its ugly head. A fewmoments later, her mind jumps back to reality. In astonishment, she holdthe child and places her finger on the scarlet letter. This shows that realityis unavoidable, even though we try to escape from it sometimes.This courageous journey to reality won my admiration and understanding.When I was eight years old, I distinctly remember the time when our familycelebrated the Chinese New Year. Since I was still young and didnt have muchmanners, I had to sit alone on a separate table. The more I saw the adultsenjoying themselves, the more furious I got. However, I felt helpless for Icouldnt do anything about it. Then, I saw my aunt rising from her chair to geta bowl of soup from the other end of the table. I rapidly took this opportunityand pulled the chair away from her. Unaware that the chair was missing, she satdown and fell backwards, dropping the bowl and making a mess. My enragedparents, grabbing me by the ears, do me kneel down in front of everybody andapologize. Being the stubborn person I am, I refused. Thus, I kept on kneelingon the ground. facial expression at my own reflection off the polished floor, I wonderedwhy I got in such a mess. Memories of the past swept into my mind. I source edpondering about my leggo collection and how awesome it was.