Hester and Dimsdale by Hamza Awawdeh

Do you guys think dimsdale should be punished or out-casted as Hester was in the beginning chapters? Also do you guys think that gender might have influenced why people were harsher towards Hester?

Dimmesdale

After reading more chapters in The Scarlet Letter, we have seen a little bit more of Dimmesdale, and so what are your thoughts on Dimmesdale's character? Do you think he must stay a heroic figure for the people in the town? Or do you think he is selfish?

The focus of chapter 11 is fixed on Dimmesdale's sorrow as he suffers beneath the burden of guilt he seems too weak to confess. Hawthorne makes a statement of the methods and degree of how Dimmesdale is to carry out his own self-punishment. His sufferings and sins has made him more understanding towards the sins of others which indirectly affects the impact of his sermons to the congregation. Hawthorne creates a sense of sympathy in the reader for Dimmesdale and his suffering so that it does not blind them to the fact that the minister is a sinner whose troubles are greatly of his own flesh despite having taught against that. In addition the reader can see how Chillingworth is becoming more evil in this chapter. The revenge that he desires is coming at a higher price than he can understand right now. He is losing himself and becoming the personification of evil.      

The Rose Bush

When asked who was her creator, Pearl responded that she had "not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door.." ( page 93)
 Do you think this is simply an incident of Pearl's imagination getting out of hand, or that there is a significant underlying meaning in her response?

Hester = Ester?

I just wanted to add the idea I had of Hester's name being almost the same as Ester from the Old Testament in the Bible. I'm not sure if anyone had thought of it this way, but I had the idea when Hester went to the Governor to appeal to him for her to keep Pearl. This reminded me of the story of Ester when Ester decided to go meet the king in order to prevent a war with the Jews. Perhaps this reflects Hester in which Hester wants to prevent a horrible event from happening, in this case, losing Pearl.

Pearl

What are your thoughts on pearl? What really is her purpose? Does she have evil being born from sin?

Sincerity

In chapter 8, Hester encounters with the Governor and the three other guests who follow him. Hester then speaks about how they want to take little Pearl away from her though; their reply is that Hester can't teach Pearl because of her sin. “I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this!" "....this badge hath taught me, -it teaches me daily,- it is teaching me at this moment,- lessons whereof my child may be the wiser and better..." (pg. 92) The red token that Hester carries has taken her through new experiences that are either good or bad but they become lessons to her life. I really like the sincerity that Hester has which makes her different than everyone else. Many who carry a red token wouldn't be able to confront an authority that has the power to do anything yet; Hester is fearless when saying these words in order to protect Pearl.

Vengeance

When we are introduced to Hester's husband, we there  begin to realize his motives regarding what Hester did while he was talking to the townsman  In the chapter "The Interview" we now know that he is looking for revenge. Not with Hester but with her unknown lover. So the question becomes what will happen if he does find the classified lover?

The Scaffold

After reading chapter two, I had a sense of admiration for Hester. She was able to take full responsibility for her actions and when she was punished, was able to keep her emotions under control despite the fact that everyone looked down upon her.

If you were in Hester's shoes, and had to stand on the scaffold for hours for all the town to see, how would you have reacted? Would you have been able to keep your composure as long as she had?

Emerson

As searching more about the transcendentalist movement I found this quote from Emerson that made me wonder how amazing it would be if we actually united and worked to make a change in society letting those around us see that good still exists. "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men." (Emerson) Any thoughts on this?

On Trancendentalism

"The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things"(from walden).Do you guys agree with this statement why? or why not/

"It looks poorest when you are richest." 

-Henry David Thoreau

In the beginning of chapter 19 of  Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, it describes the transition of how farming went from the landowners cherishing and truly caring for their farms into reaping all that they could from them and turning it into an "industry". These once hard working farmers soon had others doing their work and lost their connection with their land and only used it to satisfy their greed.

"Crop failures, drought, and flood were no longer deaths within life, but simple losses of money. And all their love was thinned with money.."

It goes on to describe the fear and hatred that these rich landowners had towards the "Okies". This fear consumed them and instead of sitting back and enjoying their success, they spent their time trying to obtain ever more land and power. Their greed drove them and for that reason they were never truly happy, even though they were the richest.

Did you find any other passages in the book that you felt correlated with Thoreau's beliefs? 

Transcendentalism

Do you consider yourself a transcendentalist? 
Why or why not?

The end of the Grapes of Wrath was an interesting ending.I myself did not expect a end with some sort of hope but a disastrous one.What did you guys expect to see?

Personally, i believe that we are all capable of moving on.  NOT forgetting, but moving on. It's not so much a restart on life, but it's more of a reset of that past experience of yourself by learning from it, and moving forward. Using it to empower the new image you are proposing to create in your new environment. So the quote from the text, "how will we live without our lives? How will we know its us without our past?" although i understand the circumstances of having to leave your home and almost all the memories and treasures behind, i personally believe it isn't that significant a change. I understand the pain it would cause, but to try and put so much emotion into a situation that doesn't necessarily have the intensity to back it up seems wasteful to me.

Rose of Sharon's Pregnancy

During the course of the novel, I thought about the symbolism of certain characters or events that John Steinbeck portrayed though, one that captured my attention was Rose of Sharon's pregnancy. Rose of Sharon's pregnancy is a symbol of new beginnings and hope for the migrant class during this time period. Rose of Sharon is pregnant throughout the novel and deeply in love with her husband Connie. Both of these characters have dreams and plans about their future in California in order to give their baby all of the necessities. Unfortunately, those dreams become part of the past once Connie left Rose of Sharon. Rose of Sharon begins acting startled by all of the situations that follow including the instability of the family and the lack of milk she received. Therefore, she begins to think of her baby being born deformed or with health problems. Towards the end of the novel Rose of Sharon gives birth to a stillborn baby. The symbol of new beginnings and hope seemed to be departing from the family yet, the Joad family kept walking until they approached to a barn where a little boy and a starved man were staying. The ending Steinbeck decided to conclude with was the scene of Rose of Sharon breastfeeding the old man giving him a new opportunity. This symbolizes once again hope of survival for the migrant class and new opportunities that are yet to come. The last sentence of the novel reads: "She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously."