Explanation: This quote is explaining the way Hester Prynne chooses to handle her child as it cries while she stands at the town square. She handles the baby "mechanically" which is not what most mothers usually do when their babies wail. And it is clearly stated that she dealt with her baby with scarce sympathy to its trouble. This means that she only cares about the child's well being, but not of her motherly love but for some half hearted reason. This half hearted reason for caring for her baby maybe out of result of not actually loving her child because it was a product of her affair. This is a sign that maybe that she might have resentment about the person she had an affair with because the child is a symbol of the husband that has left her to bear the ridicule of the entire village.
Question: How might her resentment for the babies father affect the reason she keeps his name secret?
Quote 2: "I seek no vengeance, plot no evil against thee [...] the man lives who has wronged us both [...] Sooner or latter he musts needs be mine!" -Roger Chillingworth (page 70)
Explanation: Here Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, makes it abundantly clear that he does not blame Hester for cheating on him. Instead he blames the man she slept with, whom he seeks to get revenge. This revenge will most likely be sought during the book and Hester will most likely get in the middle of it as she must choose to protect the baby's father or allow Roger to find his revenge.
Question: Why would Roger blame the baby's father as the one who started the affair though he states that Hester and himself are equally to blame?
No comments:
Post a Comment