I think the chapter 5 is a section connected to the life in the prison and the life in the actual society. And at the same time, it foreshadows the difficult life which is described later in the book.
Here are the two particular questions for today.
1. Why has Hester chosen to stay here?
Absolutely, it is really hard to understand why she has chosen to stay here. As a woman with such a sin and always having the big read “A” on the chest, the life will be definitely hard for her. In fact, she could restart everything, leaving the town and go to another country in Europe with a strange circumstance, eluding the specially sight to her from other local people. However, she chose to stay. In one hand, I think is because of the love of her hometown, and she would accept the punishment in this place. In the other hand, it is because of the love to his lover. Although they have a big problem which is could not see or talk to each other, I believe Hester still love him.
2. How does the community treat her?
Even although we all know that Hester is a kind and beautiful woman, the people still treat her badly because of what she did before. People in the town consider her as a symbol of humiliation. And the local people even keep a distance when they see her in the street. However, she got a needle job, and she did it really well. And she also makes clothes for the poor voluntarily sometimes. Despite she is trying to change the appearance in people mind, she is still indentified as a sinner. So, in short, the community treats her badly, and she could not get any respect from the whole society.
Hester does not really know what makes her stay. The book tells us that she tells herself that she stays because she needs to work out her punishment where she made her mistake, but it also tells us that she refuses to face the idea that she stays because her lover is in this place. She thinks that she might be together with him at some time in the future -- but she refuses to face that idea.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase is 'On the other hand' instead of 'in'.
How are you so sure that Hester is a beautiful and kind woman? I ask this question not to say that your idea is wrong but to make you ask yourself what evidence you see that makes you think this statement is so. Address this question in a blog at some point.