The Scarlet Letter (Chapters 1-3)

The Scarlet Letter (Chapters 1-3)

          During the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter we are introduced to the setting of the story. It sets the scene and introduces us to a crowd outside of a prison. "A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice , the door of which was heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes" ( Hawthorne 45). This quote makes me imagine the colony as very drab, depressing, and melancholy. It makes me view the people as if they were "zombies", just going through life not thinking for themselves and following whatever the crowd is doing. We then find out that no matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they invariably provide for a prison and a cemetery almost immediately. This makes me wonder why was a prison and a cemetery such a high priority. How dangerous are the people inside the prison? How many people have died and at what rate that a cemetery is immediately needed? The one incongruity in this otherwise sullen scene is a wild rosebush that grows next to the prison door. I see the rosebush as a final comfort to the condemned. A sweet moral blossom in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.
          Continuing, in chapter two we are introduced to a woman emerging from the prison bearing an infant in her arms. She is revealed to be Hester Prynne She makes her way to a scaffold where she is to be publicly condemned. From the women’s conversation and Hester’s reminiscences  as she walks through the crowd, we can deduce that she has committed adultery and has borne an illegitimate child, and that the “A” on her dress stands for “Adulterer". Then the present floods in upon her, and she inadvertently squeezes the infant in her arms, causing it to cry out. She regards her current fate with disbelief. She is a girl who made a mistake and I don't feel that she should be punished. We all make mistakes, there inevitable. Hester deserves a second chance, as should everybody who makes a mistake.
          Furthermore, in chapter three Hester spots a man in the crowd that surrounds the scaffold. He is dressed in Native American garb. She is struck by the man's wise countenance and recognizes his slightly deformed shoulders. "When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips" (Hawthorne 59). Who is this man? What if this man is her husband? The man then turns to a stranger in the crowd and asks about Hester’s crime and punishment, explaining that he has been held captive by Native Americans and has just arrived in Boston. The stranger tells him that Hester is the wife of a learned Englishman and had been living with him in Amsterdam when he decided to emigrate to America. The learned man sent Hester to America first and remained behind to settle his affairs, but he never joined Hester in Boston. He then asks the stranger about the identity of the baby’s father. The stranger tells him that Hester refuses to reveal her fellow sinner. As punishment, she has been sentenced to three hours on the scaffold and a lifetime of wearing the scarlet letter on her chest. We are then introduced to the town fathers who sit in judgment of Hester: Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, and Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale, a young minister who is renowned for his eloquence, religious fervor, and theological expertise, is delegated to demand that Hester reveal the name of her child’s father. He tells her that she should not protect the man’s identity out of pity or tenderness, but when she ardently refuses he does not press her further. Hester says that her child will seek a heavenly father and will never know an earthly one. Reverend Wilson then steps in and delivers a judgmental sermon on sin, frequently referring to Hester’s scarlet letter, which seems to the crowd to glow and burn. Hester bears the sermon patiently, hushing the baby when she begins to scream. At the conclusion of the sermon, Hester is led back into the prison.