2. Hester is now protecting two men. In your opinion, does this make her a strong or a weak character? Who do you think she has a loyalty to protect? Give support for both answers.
1. What political, cultural, and religious conditions are already presented in the story? Give specific examples for support.
2. Hester is now protecting two men. In your opinion, does this make her a strong or a weak character? Who do you think she has a loyalty to protect? Give support for both answers.
61 Comments
Lindsey Diamond
6/30/2018 04:59:17 pm
1. The story presents a time when the town was led by Puritans. The preachers of the church had power like the governors. And society was divided by money and wealth.
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Avery King
7/9/2018 03:08:11 pm
I completely agree that Hester has a loyalty to protect her husband. However, Roger never forgave her and this was what ultimately led to his own ruin. He would of never tormented Dimmesdale if he forgave Hester.
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Gracie Davenport
7/25/2018 03:22:45 pm
I agree with Avery because even though Hester was loyal to her husband to keep his secrets, Roger Chillingworth never forgave Hester for the sin she committed with Dimmesdale and brought himself to his own death.
Misty Wilson
7/31/2018 11:02:28 am
I agree that Hester was loyal to her husband to protect him. But Roger Chillingworth never forgave her which lead to his death.
Anne Simmons
7/10/2018 12:03:50 pm
I agree that by protecting 2 men makes Hester stronger, but also weaker to society making it harder for her to be taking seriously or not made fun of by the public.
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Ellie Gillam
7/12/2018 05:15:19 am
I agree with your point Anne, perspective is everything and we see that Hester is strong because of all the different things she has to handle such as her own child, the secret of the two men, and society's views of her. The rest of her society views her as weak because she has the scarlet letter, a child, and won't tell them who Pearl's father is.
Mitchell Badurak
7/25/2018 02:56:02 pm
I agree with Anne's point. The Perspective of Hester is in the eye of the beholder. If you are looking at her from the view of a citizen she looks pitiful and weak being a single mother still trying to protect the father of her child, yet from the readers point of view you can see her struggles and realize how strong she really is.
Lauren Dossett
7/27/2018 10:17:49 am
I agree with Anne because protecting them makes her strong in the eyes of the reader because she doesn't care about making things easier on herself if it means compromising someone else, but protecting them makes her seem weak in the eyes of society.
Avery King
7/1/2018 12:39:21 pm
1. Settled in Boston, this church-led society of Puritans holds insanely strict values and beliefs. Church leaders are also government leaders so any sin committed is dealt with as an illegal act and taken very seriously. Officials are trying to create the perfect community in God's eyes, yet the people feel strained by the sternness and harshness within the society. If one commits a sin, that person is completely ridiculed by the whole society. Because we're all human, the church/government leaders will eventually shun the whole community and no one will feel at home anymore.
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Connor Atwell
7/1/2018 06:10:37 pm
Referring to your statement of "It is human nature to bring others into your own sin or call attention to theirs in order to lesson some of the shame on you". I do not deny that Hester has very strong character, but I infer that the Puritan society has dampened some of that urge to call others' sins to light. By the reactions of the townspeople, you can see that morals are strong and instilled heavily on these people. I feel that those morals most likely helped to suppress that urge to call the other sinner to light. However, it would have taken incredible will of mind and soul to keep him out of the light. So, I feel that it was a mixture of Puritan upbringing and compassion that kept the other man out of the light of her sin.
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Lindsey Diamond
7/6/2018 05:12:37 pm
You inferred that the Puritan society damped the urge to call others' sin to the light, but I believe it did the opposite. The penal system of the Puritan society was formed heavily on the scaffolds. The people saw it as a way to promote citizenship. If the system was to last the people had to believe in it. If the society damped peoples urge to punish sinners there would have been a more diversified society in the story and the government would not be so well enforced.
Connor Atwell
7/1/2018 06:03:46 pm
1. This story is presented in colonial-era Boston. This early, theocratic society is very set in Puritan values and rules. Any break in morals is a dire and serious offense to both the church and to the government. You can already see these strict and rigid laws early in the book. The author immediately presents a situation where a woman has committed adultery, and the town's inhabitants are calling for the death of that woman. This is most likely due to the rigid stance of the Puritan church on sexual impurity. Any impurity seen in the eyes of God is impurity in the eyes of the government and citizens of that society.
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Tyler
7/31/2018 06:51:39 pm
I agree with your second point, however, I do find it weird that a husband would willingly send his wife across an ocean to a completely unpredictable place so i think he shouldn't have let her go without him in the first place
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Ellie Gillam
7/8/2018 04:59:53 pm
1. Because the town is led by religious figures, people are condemned for religious reasons in addition to laws created by typical governments. In a different society Hester Prynne would not have been in such humiliating trouble with the same offense. Also, the majority of citizens are very harsh and judgmental. They act with a "holier than thou" attitude because of Hester's sins.
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Meredith Collins
7/14/2018 08:42:37 am
I agree that Pearl is the most important part of her life, however; I think she does have a loyalty to protect her husband because he was not a part of her sin and therefore should not have to deal with the humiliation.
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Lauren Johnson
7/17/2018 06:15:49 pm
I agree that Hester doesn't owe loyalty to either men. Her husband never truely divorced her ,so they are still married. Because they are still married, he should take the responsibility of the role. (i.e "for better or for worse")
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Anne Simmons
7/10/2018 11:58:56 am
1. The society was suppose to be created as “perfect” but the town built a grave yard and a prison first, showing nothing is perfect there is always going to be crime and death since sin was brought into the world. Hester moves to Boston where she is in a Puritan town and is valued as a crime to society for having a Scarlett letter on her chest for adultery. The church is more like an obscure government.
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Malea Marchioni
7/13/2018 05:58:25 pm
I agree with Anne's opinion of Hester and protecting Pearl's reputation as hers is already being destroyed. I agree that she is strong and weak or vulnerable at the same time. She fell for both men and wants to protect both even if her life is falling apart in front of her.
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Abigail O'Connell
7/24/2018 12:55:43 pm
I agree that Hester does not owe any loyalty to Chillingworth or Dimmesdale. She only owes her loyalty to herself and her daughter.
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Malea Marchioni
7/13/2018 05:55:15 pm
1. The story is set in a Puritan society in seventeenth-century Boston. The church and government being one makes Hester's situation a bit more complicated because any wrong sin committed can be taken harsher than if it was a society with separate church and state. The punishment is easily raised due to the idea of breaking the law and doing wrong in the church.
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7/17/2018 11:48:24 am
I agree with your statement that Hester was strong. She didn't have to keep their names hidden, but she didn't cave under pressure. Also, she was still strong enough to be able to provide for her and her child, even after being outcasted.
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Jacob Roberts
7/19/2018 07:08:06 pm
While I agree that Hester is a strong character, I think she is mainly protecting her husband's secret because it serves her own interests of keeping her lover secret and not only because she respects his privacy.
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Meredith Collins
7/14/2018 08:36:12 am
1) In this time, the church and state were equal, so any "crime," or sin, to the church was a crime to the state. Therefore, sinners were punished tremendously. Most sins were punished by death, but in some cases, like Hester's, sinners were instead humiliated.
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Ethan
7/16/2018 02:38:55 pm
I agree that she has loyalty to protect Roger since he forgave her after she wronged him.
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Ben Hartery
7/14/2018 11:10:29 am
The story takes place in a puritan society in Boston. Hester's situation is made a lot worse than it needed to be because the church and state are one body. This causes moral dilemmas to become illegal actions that are punishable by the society's leaders.
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Ben Hartery
7/14/2018 11:22:53 am
2. I think that Hester protecting two men makes her a strong character. I think she has a loyalty to protect her husband because he didn't do anything wrong, however she does not need to protect the other adulterer. He committed the same crime she did and if she revealed his name her life would be made a lot easier.
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Clayton Stoddard
7/16/2018 09:41:40 am
I agree her life would be a lot easier and I feel like anyone else would have ratted him out.
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Clayton Stoddard
7/16/2018 09:35:39 am
1. The Puritan beliefs of public condemnation and that sin should be "actively sought-out" are present in the large crowds gathered at her sentencing.
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7/16/2018 02:07:01 pm
I agree with your second point. She can only blame herself for this
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7/16/2018 02:04:21 pm
1. This book is set in the early years of colonial history in a colony ruled by Puritans. Puritans ran the colony as such "State and Religion are equal" which led to over punishment in some cases due to it going aginst the religion.
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Ethan Parks
7/16/2018 02:32:51 pm
1. The setting of the story takes place in colonial Massachusetts, with a society led by an equal church and state government. This would explain the harsh punishment of Hester's sin.
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James Frazier
7/18/2018 11:03:44 am
I agree that she had a commitment to Chillingworth above Dimmesdale because that was her husband who she loved and who loved her enough to send her to the new colony so she could have a better life
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7/17/2018 11:44:50 am
1. This story takes place in Boston during a time when Puritans ruled. The church and government were one, so anything that the church leaders deemed a crime was heavily punished. This is what made Hester's situation so dire and why she was alienated so harshly after she committed adultery.
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Lauren Johnson
7/17/2018 06:11:20 pm
1. A theocracy strictly governs the town and reinforces the society's views and culture. The magistrates act as city councilmen as well as religious leaders. Because they act in both roles, the townspeople view them as holy men.
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Carmen DeStazio
7/26/2018 03:49:26 pm
I agree with everything you said, especially about how her husband should have loved her enough to risk his reputation. I do believe she remained loyal to herself, though. She tried her best to stay strong and live with her situation now and tune out all the taunting.
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James Frazier
7/18/2018 11:01:19 am
1) This story presents Boston in the colonial times when society was a theocracy. The colony was ruled by the church, and men held all the power. Because this colony is a theocracy, the religious leaders also held government power, so they had complete power over the town
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Teal Salloum
7/25/2018 11:12:58 am
I completely agree with your second point. Since religion is so relevant in this story you would think that their vows to each other would mean more to them.
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Jacob Roberts
7/19/2018 07:03:26 pm
1. Religious ideas and leaders were significant in the Massachusetts Colony. This can be seen in Dimmesdale's role interviewing Hester because of his position as her minister. Also, a gossiper in chapter 2 says that there must be a law for killing Hester in the scripture and statute-book, indicating that both are closely related to each other.
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Jesse Kearns
7/25/2018 11:01:50 am
I agree with Jacob’s comments in response to the first question. The evidence he provided regarding the scripture and statute book is indisputable and supports his points excellently.
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Abigail O'Connell
7/24/2018 12:50:27 pm
1. The story takes place in Puritan Boston in the mid-seventeenth century. This is a strict community where a moral sin is also a crime. The head of the church is also head of the society and this figure is always a man. Women are considered second class citizens. It is a society that is very judgmental.
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Jesse Kearns
7/25/2018 10:55:51 am
1) An almost fanatic level of religious belief is the most outstanding condition in the first chapters of the book. The unity of Church and state is akin to Muslim Caliphates. The men who hold all the power are also the religious leaders, and their word is law.
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Alaina Olsen
7/25/2018 09:23:41 pm
1. You are very much correct about the level of intensity shown in the first few chapters as far as the level of religious beliefs go. Today, we never hear about people being punished in such a way for adultery, but in this account, it seems as though everyone except the guilty parties are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to sticking to the law/faith.
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Teal Salloum
7/25/2018 11:07:55 am
1) The story takes place in Boston during the 17th century within a society of Puritans. The Puritans are a christian group who believe in reform, and there is no exemptions to the laws. Since the society is run by Puritans, this makes it easier for the members of the clergy have a strong say in the decisions and laws made. Basically, if you are not seen as perfect you are looked down upon. Hester wonders how she is the only one that is seen as imperfect.
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Hallie Ladner
7/30/2018 01:55:52 pm
I agree with Teal's statement. You are looked down on if you are not the same and perfect. Anyone who might come off as a little different or someone who does something that no one else does you are considered bad and someone who should basically be shunned from the community. Hester is an example of someone who is not the same and someone who is different than everyone else and it shows the consequences of what happens when you are not perfect.
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Mitchell Badurak
7/25/2018 03:13:52 pm
1. The story starts off by showing us the main religion of the town was Puritan. And the towns main political power was the church.
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Gracie Davenport
7/25/2018 03:17:17 pm
1. The Scarlet Letter took place in the 17th century in Boston, Massachusetts in a recently founded Puritan colony. Everyone believed in and followed strict moral values that allowed no exceptions. The society members were extremely harsh to others they believed to be imperfect.
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Alaina Olsen
7/25/2018 09:01:35 pm
1. In this area, the Puritans do not practice separation of church and state. Rather, church and state are one. The heads of the congregations make up the government. The citizens seem to go along with the rulings as long as they are harsh which is how they have been coaxed to think. As for the faith, it appears to be largely based upon what not to do, and if this is what the law is based upon, it was bound to be strict. If the US were governed by a Catholic group in such a way, it would also be pretty hard to get away with much.
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Carmen DeStazio
7/26/2018 03:45:02 pm
Since this community is very church-based, political, cultural, and religious conditions are basically the same. If one commits a sin, it is also considered a crime. For example, Hester committed the sin of adultery, which is bad, but it is not a crime. Even though it was just a sin, she was put in prison and given her scarlet letter.
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Micah Webb
7/29/2018 01:52:28 pm
I agree that this community is very church-based and how strong Hester is as a woman. It definitely does gather up a lot of courage to keep the identities of the two men to herself.
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Lauren Dossett
7/27/2018 10:29:31 am
1. Because society is lead by the church, this means that any moral dilemma is also involved with the government. Therefore, if you go against the moral teachings of the church, you are also breaking the law. Since Hester committed adultery and bore a child, which is against the teachings of the church, she was punished by the government. She is being loyal to these men and protecting them because she doesn't want theirs lives and reputations to be ruined just as hers was.
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Gabriela Patino
7/27/2018 09:52:55 pm
I think you make a very good point when you stated that she protects them because she doesn't want their lives and reputations to be ruined like hers. However, I really think this applies more to Dimmesdale, because I think she is afraid of Chillingsworth and what he would do.
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Beyla Bleichner
7/31/2018 05:19:57 pm
2. I disagree and only for the sole purpose that Hester was scared I believe. She felt alone and had to take care of a newborn child while everyone else shunned her including her own husband and the father of pearl. I think Hester was weak for letting those men get to her and manipulate her.
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Gabriela Patino
7/27/2018 09:55:17 pm
1. A Boston Puritan Society during the 17th century was governed with the church and government as equal. Any crime to the church was punishable by the government. In a society like this men were superior to woman and usually took governing power. In the Scarlet letter the Governor and church officials were all men. The main goal of this religious society was to create God's "perfect society". Sins were publicly displayed to the whole community and one faced much persecution when their sins were revealed.
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Emily Miller
7/29/2018 12:59:54 pm
I agree that Hester protecting both of the men make her strong although I do believe her guilt to atone for her sin gives her more of a reason to protect her husband.
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Emily Miller
7/29/2018 12:52:43 pm
1.Many political, religious, and cultural conditions have occurred in the story. The political and religious is the theocratic leaders strictness against those of different beliefs or opinions like the Quakers who are punished or "scourged out of town" for their beliefs. Cultural conditions are the repetitive harsh perspectives of the surrounding community towards those who unheeded the law, how the towns people shunned Hester for her sin.
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Micah Webb
7/29/2018 01:46:45 pm
1. The story takes place under a Puritan-ruled Boston in which the church and government are intertwined. This form of government has led to all laws being in accordance with the church. Hester had committed adultery, which is considered a highly-degraded sin. She had gone against the church, and with that she must suffer under the law as well.
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Hallie Ladner
7/30/2018 01:44:18 pm
1. The story takes place in a strict, Puritan society in Boston, Massachusetts that is ruled by strong political and religious influences where the people and the lives of the people are based on these two categories. The society is led and ruled by the clergy and the governor. The strictness involved in the beginning of the book just shows how much involvement the Puritans have as leaders of the community.
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Misty Wilson
7/31/2018 11:33:04 am
1. The story talks about a time when the town was just run by Puritans. All The church preachers had powers liken the governs had, and everything was split by wealth.
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Makenzie Stenum
7/31/2018 03:12:03 pm
1. As the introduction begins and the rising action is developed, the book presents the setting as a society of Puritans living in Boston. The Puritans are a christian group who believe in reform and, in this case, are strictly implying the rules upon the other citizens. Due to the society being run by Puritans, the members of the clergy have a strong say in the decisions and rules made. These rules limited the lives of many of the citizens to mostly working.
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Beyla Bleichner
7/31/2018 05:17:16 pm
1. Hester lives in a strict puritan society. There are very harsh regulations and unity incorporated. An example of this is when Hester is made to wear the Scarlett letter which she had to make herself in a jail cell since they would not release her until she had something to show for her crimes. Hester also is publicly humiliated right when she leaves the jail cell to further cement what she did and how it wronged the community and her religion.
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Tyler
7/31/2018 06:45:36 pm
1: The book takes place in colonial Boston run by Puritans. Strong morally based laws and political/spiritual leaders run the colony.
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