Explanation: The quote above is part of the narration that explains the main character, Hester Prynne. The author draws a parallel between her and the "divine maternity" (a.k.a. Mary mother of Jesus). With this parallel we can take the assumption that maybe she felt as Mary had felt when Mary had had the virgin birth and people had taken her as an adulterous. Something else that can be taken from this is that maybe, Hester has some type of role in God's plan as Mary had. And a questionable parallel that could be drawn is that maybe Hester might be a pure person as Mary was and that Hester, except for her sin of adultery.
Question: Why would the author compare an adulterous woman to a pure woman like Mary?
Quote 2: "They were stern enough to look upon her death, had that been the sentence, without murmur at its severity, but had none of the heartlessness of another social state which would find only a theme for jest in an exhibition like the present" (53).
Explanation: Here the author explains the crowds sternness. The author create an image of a line plot, plotting the villagers as people that were in the middle of two types of people, those who found hangings barbaric and those who found them as entertainment. So the author creates an image of the villagers being stern people that followed their religion strictly. This means that those who visibly break the rules of the religion will be shown no remorse and undergo harsh punishment, as Hester Prynne must undergo.
Question: What is the value of knowing how stern the village is about punishment, and how will this play a part later in the story?
No comments:
Post a Comment