Reading Report

for Extensive Reading Course

Number： 1111902318

Term： 4

Name： 徐湘君

Date: 2013.5.9

An Impression on The Scarlet Letter

After finishing reading the novel scarlet letter, I feel very much sad and depressed. I am sorry for the three main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur dimmesdale and Roger chillingworth. The tragedy between them revealed the cruelty of the society, the deception of region and hypocrisy of moral.

The story happened in Boston about 200 years ago. It mainly tells us the love affairs between three people, Hester Prynne and his husband, Roger Chillingworth and a young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester does not love his husband at all. Arthur Dimmesdale is a minister and is highly respected by the people in town. Hester and Dimmesdale love each other. But their love is forbidden at that time. That’s why Hester is punished by wearing a letter A on her chest, which is considered a shame.

First of all, I want to talk about the protagonist, Hester Prynne. She is my favorite character in this novel. She is a brave and passionate lady. She is a kind and helpful woman. The novel described her as follows, ‘so picturesque in her clothing and manner, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many great painters have struggled with one another to represent ’. From my point of view, she is the embodiment of beauty, kindness and truth. She wears the scarlet letter A for seven years because she makes an unforgivable mistake--- Adultery. Although nearly all the habitants in the region reject her，she still tries her best to help everyone in need. She could face everyone's despise and contempt, but she could not face her daughter - Pearl. As she said, ‘She is my happiness!--she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!’ Pearl, like a living ‘scarlet letter’ to punish Hester, reminds her of the unbearable memories. However, she didn't kill pearl’s wild nature. She raises her with care and love. She loves the priest and bears the humiliation alone, which was enough to show her great love. Later, when her husband, the doctor revenges Arthur, she even encouraged Arthur to leave the region together with her, although in the end they failed. Gradually, the townspeople no longer view the letter as a punishment, but a symbol of her great strength and bravery .They say it means ‘Able’. As far as I am concerned, the letter A means ‘Attraction’, ‘Affection’, ‘Admirable’ and ‘Angle’.

I am not a feminist, but I really appreciate the heroine in this novel. She dares to love and hate. She has the courage to pursue true love and dare to face it. I think that Modern women should have the courage to pursue the happiness of life, power and money. But what is the most important? It is freedom.

Second, I’d like to express my opinion on the young clergyman, Arthur Dimmesdale. He is a hollow and cowardly man. He has a shiny appearance, but when he sees his beloved woman is bearing with public humiliation, he did not step forward, instead, he falsely forces her to speak out the name of the paramour. He is loved by the people but suffers from the condemnation from inner side. The arrival of the doctor makes his mental problem more serious. Because he feels he is spied into by someone and he is afraid that his inner secrets will be revealed. Although when Hester asks him to leave here with her, he has a moment of relief, but it’s already too late to escape. In Calvin’s doctrine, certain people are chosen by god for salvation. That’s why dimmesdale feels helpless. As a devout priest, who is closest to god and influences the souls who can't save themselves, he can't compensate for his iniquity.

Thirdly, I want to make comments on Hester’s husband, the man who was small in stature with a wrinkled brow but with a remarkable intelligence in his feature. Returned from his release, Hester's husband, who has been spied on details for a long time, has been generally aware of the truth by treating dimmesdale. He wants to kill dimmesdale. He makes every effort to come close to the priest. He tortures the priest in his spirit constantly. This unhappy man has made his aim in life to add to the suffering of the young minister. I think all that he does to Dimmesdale is meaningless. Hester doesn’t love him at all. He gets nothing but hate.

In addition, there is another character I have to mention. That’s Pearl, Hester’s daughter. As the novel says, ‘Certainly, there was no physical defect. By its perfect shape, its vigor, and its natural dexterity in the use of all its untried limbs, the infant was worthy to have been brought forth in Eden; worthy to have been left there, to be the plaything of the angels after the world's first parents were driven out. The child had a native grace which does not invariably coexist with faultless beauty; its attire, however simple, always impressed the beholder as if it were the very garb that precisely became it best.’ She is the symbol of nature and perfection. Her existence makes the novel more sparkling.

What’s more, the novel tells us that people should struggle for freedom and liberation. Here the writer is challenging the traditional moral, which makes the reader to rethink the rationality of our moral standards, as well as the dark side. This is why the work is so dazzling and why it leaves a good name forever.

All in all, I think that this book is worth reading. It has a profound message and education significance both at that time and today.

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