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Lexi Wright

Klimas

English Pre-AP, P. 5

25 November 2017

The Scarlet Letter: Intolerance

In the historical fiction novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the intolerance

of the Puritans is discussed. Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys his frustration with intolerance by the

Puritans through visual and auditory imagery created by selection of detail, his disgruntled tone,

and the use of contrasting images of Dimmesdale as a sinner and as a preacher.

Hawthorne uses a vivid selection of detail to explain the intolerance of Puritans through

visual and auditory imagery. The use of visual imagery adds context to the detail being described

which allows for visualization. Details illustrate the scarlet letter A, “On the breast of her gown,

in fine red cloth , surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold

thread, appeared the letter A”(46). Hester Prynne, the main character in the novel, must wear a

scarlet letter A, standing for adultery, due to her committing the sin. By using selection of detail,

Hawthorne creates visual imagery such as in the word, “elaborate embroidery” and “flourishes of

gold”(46). This conveys Hawthorne’s frustration with the intolerance of the Puritans because

they are hypocritical. The Puritans are suppose to follow the Bible strictly, however the Bible

says to forgive and they refuse to forgive Hester of her sin. Hester Prynne must wear the letter all

day, every day for the rest of her life because of one mistake, the sin of adultery, which shows

the lack of forgiveness. This intolerance and lack of forgiveness cause pain to Hester at some

points, “... she felt, at moments, as if she must needs shriek out with the full power of her lungs,
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and cast herself form the scaffold down upon the ground…”(49). Auditory imagery allows the

sound of Hester’s shriek to be heard, which helps further expand on the intolerance. Hester feels

agony and pain which makes her break down inside due to this. Her sin makes the Puritans

become intolerant of her, they refuse to forgive her, which ultimately causes her to feel like

breaking down. By using vivid selection of detail, such as visual and auditory imagery,

Hawthorne conveys his frustration with intolerance.

A disgruntled tone is used in The Scarlet Letter to expand on Hawthorne’s frustration

with intolerance. Hawthorne uses a disgruntled tone to convey the hypocrisy of the Puritan

society. The hypocrisy is exemplified in the town’s preacher, Reverend Dimmesdale, and is the

disgruntled tone, “The minister might stand there, if it so pleased him, until morning should

redden in the east…”(122). Dimmesdale the town’s minister, has committed adultery which is a

sin in the Puritan community. However, no one in the community knows that he has committed

this sin, so all of the blame is only put on Hester, whom he committed adultery with. This

conveys Hawthorne’s frustration with intolerance because it says, “if it so pleased him”(122),

which displays that Dimmesdale has a choice of whether or not to stand on the scaffold, and

whether or not to tell everyone of his sin. Hester Prynne did not have this choice. She stood on

the scaffold and she wore the scarlet letter A because she had to. This is frustrating because the

Puritans are so intolerant of Hester that they don’t even care to find the father. The disgruntled

tone is also displayed when discussing Dimmesdale’s visions: “He had told his hearers that he

was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing

of unimaginable iniquity… would not the people start up in their seats… and tear him

down…”(119-120). Dimmesdale, at this point, is having visions due to his strong sense of guilt,

his guilt is overwhelming him and causing him to go crazy. This conveys the frustration with
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intolerance because the community loves Dimmesdale and looks up to him and sees him as holy

and righteous but if Dimmesdale were to confess his sin of adultery, the community would turn

on him. The Puritans’ intolerance would cause them to turn away from one of the most

important people in their community, Dimmesdale, due to one sin. This displays the disgruntled

tone because Hawthorne is agitated at the fact that an important member of a community that

was loved one second, could be shunned in another second because of one simple, little mistake.

By Hawthorne’s use of a disgruntled tone, his frustration with the Puritans and their intolerance

is displayed and further explained.

The contrasting images of Dimmesdale are used in order to portray the intolerance of the

Puritans. Dimmesdale is used as a contrasting image because on one side he is a loved preacher

in the Puritan community, but on the other side he is a hypocrite and a sinner. Since no one

knows of Dimmesdale’s adultery sin besides Hester and Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale feels

extremely guilty and has terrible thoughts, “... while standing on the scaffold...Mr. Dimmesdale

was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his

naked breast, right over his heart”(123). As the town’s reverend, Dimmesdale is well-respected

and looked up to, but he has now sinned and he won’t admit it. This conveys Hawthorne’s

frustration with intolerance because Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, the same one Hester

stood on for her punishment, but yet he won’t admit his sin. This is intolerance because

Dimmesdale allowed Hester to take all of the blame and he thinks that by standing on the

scaffold, with no one around, will forgive him of his sins. The intolerance of the Puritans terrifies

Dimmesdale so he won't tell the truth. He also won’t tell of his sin because he is a preacher so if

the community knew that he had sinned it would contrast what he is suppose to do as a preacher.

Due to this he acts as if he is perfect and pure, “The next day, however, being the Sabbath, he
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preached a discourse which was held to be the richest and most powerful...that had ever

proceeded from his lips”(130). As the reverend, he must teach the community not to sin, so he

must act as if he is pure and angelic when really he is a sinner, this makes him hypocritical.

Intolerance is conveyed because of the hypocrisy of Dimmesdale. As a Puritan he should not be

hypocritical yet he still acts holy and perfect when in reality he is a sinner and hypocrite. The use

of contrasting images off Dimmesdale, sinner and preacher, allow the portrayal of intolerance in

Puritan society.

The Puritan society was intolerant in various ways which frustrated Hawthorne which is

seen in the novel The Scarlet Letter through visual and auditory imagery created by selection of

detail, the disgruntled tone, and the contrasting images of Dimmesdale as a sinner and as a

preacher. This reveals the universal truth that not everything is like what it seems. Things may

seem one way but actually be another.