Book review of the Scarlet LetterThis is the story of a young woman who fall in love with a young man in Colonial America. They find each other irresistible and concieve a child out of wedlock. In the Puritan world of early America this is a heinous crime and for this, Hester Prine the central character of the novel, is severely punished. With a battered heart she is forced out of town. In the forest where she now finds herself, she finds great comfort from the beauty that surrounds her and fulfillment in her beautiful young child. The townspeople still want her to answer the question she will not answer, who is the child's father, as he must bear the responsibility and the punishment he deserves. But Hester will not tell. Who is this golden child's daddy?Hester, however, will not reveal the identity of her lover, and is content to bare the shame of the scarlet letter on her own. When Mr. Prynne, soon-to-be-known as Roger Chillingworth, arrives, he begins a careful mind game to unravel the identity of Hester's lover, or at the very least, make him snap. Hester ends up being a woman of great principle and quiet purpose. She accepts her sin as dictated to her by society and continues her life waiting for it to wear off. She believes she deserves it. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, never confesses and allows himself to be tormented by Chillingworth. Dimmesdale's lies lead to his downfall, and Chillingworth never gets his young wife. It is only Pearl who grows into a glorious being and settles into a fine life back in the old world, living off Roger Chillingworth's money.Nathaniel Hawthorne's background influenced him to write the bold novel The Scarlet Letter. One important influence on the story is money. Hawthorne had never made much money as an author and the birth of his first daughter added to the financial burden. He received a job at the Salem Custom House only to lose it three years later and be forced to write again to support his family. Consequently, The Scarlet Letter was published a year later. It was only intended to be a long short story, but the extra money a novel would bring in was needed. Hawthorne then wrote an introduction section titled "The Custom House" to extend the length of the book and The Scarlet Letter became a full novel.In addition to financial worries, another influence on the story is Hawthorne's rejection of his ancestors. His forefathers were strict Puritans, and John Hathorne, his great-great-grandfather, was a judge presiding during the Salem witch trials. Hawthorne did not condone their acts and actually spent a great deal of his life renouncing the Puritans in general.Similarly, the Scarlet Letter was a literal "soapbox" for Hawthorne to convey to the world that the majority of Puritans were strict and unfeeling. For example, before Hester emerges from the prison she is being scorned by a group of women who feel that she deserves a larger punishment than she actually receives. Instead of only being made to stand on the scaffold and wear the scarlet letter on her chest, they suggest that she have it branded on her forehead or even be put to death. Perhaps the most important influence on the story is the author's interest in the "dark side".Unlike the transcendentalists of the era, Hawthorne "confronted reality, rather than evading it".Likewise, The Scarlet Letter deals with adultery, a subject that caused much scandal when it was first published, The book revolves around sin and punishment, a far outcry from writers of the time, such as Emerson and Thoreau, who dwelt on optimistic themes.This background, together with a believable plot, convincing characterization, and important literary devices enables Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter to develop the theme of the heart as a prison. The scaffold scenes are the most substantial situations in the story because they unify The Scarlet Letter in two influential ways. First of all, every scaffold scene reunites the main characters of the novel.In the first scene, everyone in the town is gathered in the market place because Hester is being questioned about the identity of the father of her child. In her arms is the product of her sin, Pearl, a three month old baby who is experiencing life outside the prison for the first time. Dimmesdale is standing beside the scaffold because he is Hester's pastor and it is his job to convince her to repent and reveal the father's name. A short time later, Chillingworth unexpectedly shows up within the crowd of people who are watching Hester after he is released from his two year captivity by the Indians.In the second scene, Dimmesdale is standing on top of the scaffold alone in the middle of the night. He sees Hester and Pearl walk through the market place on their way back from Governor Winthrop's bedside. When Dimmesdale recognizes them and tells them to join him, they walk up the steps to stand by his side. Chillingworth appears later standing beside the scaffold, staring at Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl.In the final scaffold scene, Dimmesdale walks to the steps of the scaffold in front of the whole town after his Election day sermon. He tells Hester and Pearl to join him yet again on the scaffold. Chillingworth then runs through the crowd and tries to stop Dimmesdale from reaching the top of the scaffold, the one place where he can't reach him.Another way in which the scenes are united is how each illustrates the immediate, delayed, and prolonged effects that the sin of adultery has on the main characters. The first scene shows Hester being publicly punished on the scaffold. She is being forced to stand on it for three hours straight and listen to people talk about her as a disgrace and a shame to the community. Dimmesdale's instantaneous response to the sin is to lie. He stands before Hester and the rest of the town and proceeds to give a moving speech about how it would be in her and the father's best interest for her to reveal the father's name. Though he never actually says that he is not the other parent, he implies it by talking of the father in third person. Such as, "If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer". Chillingworth's first reaction is one of shock, but he quickly suppresses it. Since his first sight of his wife in two years is of her being punished for being unfaithful to him, he is naturally surprised. It does not last for long though, because it is his nature to control his emotions.。