Hester’s Way Or Dimmesdale’s Way?

When I was working out with The Scarlet Letter for my The Well Educated Mind self-project, I came to the thoughts of “Sin” and “Repentance”. Hester and Dimmesdale were both sinned, they worked together to their falls, however each proceeded with different ways. And suddenly I was curious to watch both their progresses, and how their conducts brought them to their ends. So I made this diagram, to conclude in the end, who’d succeed and who’d failed. This is interesting….

I think we can learn from this diagram too—I don’t say that we must wear a kind of token to show off our sin in public, but I am thinking about how we’d best represent ourselves before God. Only with humbleness and openness we could receive His mercy and forgiveness, and with that we could revive from our sin, and instead of fading from life like Arthur Dimmesdale, we could be more useful for others, or for the society, just like Hester.

Why had Hester Pryne succeeded? I incline to think that she had been purged from her burden of sin by wearing the scarlet letter, and at the same time accepted in her calmness of being secluded, humiliated and scowled by the Puritans, while she kept doing kindness to them. All these lifted her burden, and she could renew her life after her freedom, she had her own choices.

Why had Arthur Dimmesdale failed? Because he was too hypocrite and too cowardice to admit that he was a sinner. He had accepted what he deserved for all his services to God (people appraisal). I can only think that Dimmesdale did his sermons and anything else just to get God’s (and people’s) rewards. In the end his sin only made his divine efforts distinguished.

So, which way would you choose for your own, Hester’s way, or Dimmesdale’s way? :)

The Scarlet Letter – Summary Chapter XXI – XXIV

Chapter XXI – The New England Holiday

Election Day was one of the rare holidays for New England when the Puritans—usually repressed by their strict law—could enjoy merriments; this was also the day Hester would be set free from wearing the scarlet letter. Chillingworth appeared and had conversation with vessel’s captain—who previously had arranged to take Hester and Dimmesdale in his boat; then the captain informed Hester that they would have another passenger, which was—in Hester’s horror—the old physician.

Chapter XXII – The Procession

The procession began, exhibiting the honorable ranks of the magistrates and citizens, then appeared Rev. Dimmesdale appeared, energetic and with an angelic look. Hester felt as if Dimmisdale had gone away from her, she then approached near the scaffold—where she had been seven years ago—to listen to Dimmesdale coming Election Sermon.

Chapter XXIII – The Revelation of The Scarlet Letter

Rev. Dimmesdale’s sermon was so wise and holy to the people’s ears, however at the end of it he looked suddenly pale and feeble; he called Hester and Little Pearl to step up on the scaffold with him, while dismissing Chillingworth’s last attempt to win his soul. Dimmesdale finally admitted to the public that he was the man who committed adultery with Hester, and proved it by tearing his robe to reveal what some of the people witnessed as a scarlet letter on his bosom; he finally died after having kissed Pearl.

Chapter XXIV – Conclusion

There are many speculations about what was the mark on Dimmesdale’s bosom; meanwhile Chillingworth’s energy had vanished after his vengeance came to end, and he bequeathed his estates to Little Pearl before his death. Hester and Pearl disappeared from New England, but some years later Hester returned alone to her old cottage and kept the scarlet letter and giving counsels and comforts to the people in sorrow as her repentance; while Pearl had married and lived happily somewhere.

Melanie Hamilton in Gone With The Wind

Although she was not made the main character in Gone With The Wind, I think Melanie was the real heroine. Melanie was a timid, simple, humble woman with a very kind heart. Her main strength was how she could see the positive side of every person; she followed her own instinct, not what people around thought about the person.

Melanie was not typical women who glow in parties; and being the center of attention was never her aim. She even preferred to be behind the curtain all the time. However people always love her, I can’t think of any character in this story who did not love Melanie—not even Scarlett although she tried hard to. People love her because she was always genuine in heart, no pretense, always willingly to pour her love and affection to everyone because she wanted to, not because she needed something from them in return. All they’ve got to do was just opened their heart.

On the earlier stages of her life, I thought Melanie was a passive woman with the lack of initiative, but apparently she developed very much throughout the story. Hard times reshaped her a lot. She might be shy, but she was very brave when needed. Twice in a crisis, she calmly made quick decisions and acted right.

Her only weakness was that she only believed what she wanted to, she could not accept that people she loved made a mistake. She definitely closed her eyes of what happened between her husband and Scarlett. Instead of analyzing every details, she just threw the idea away only because she loved both of them, and they won't therefore do such a thing.

Anyway…Melanie was a real lady with her inner beauty, as Rhett Butler said…. “Beauty doesn’t make a lady, nor clothes a great lady.”

Let’s Read Plays MASTER POST

I’m very pleased to finally kick off our Let’s Read Plays, a yearlong event to read classics plays from varied authors (see the sign up post for more detailed info). This is the master post where you can link up all your reviews and other posts during the event, which ends on 31 October 2013. Once in a while I will organize all the posts based on category, to make it easier to navigate.

You are welcomed to sign up here; the signing up will be closed on 15 November 2012.

Must I sign up formally? Can’t I just participate and post reviews in my blog?

Yes, you can. But signing up help us to get to know all the participants, how many we are here, and once in a while we might want to have a visit to your blogs :). Plus…by signing up by 15 November 2012 you will be eligible for some giveaways throughout Let’s Read Plays event, yayyy! :)

I just found out this event after 15 November 2012. Can I still participate?

Yes, you can. You can participate on all activities during the year, but unfortunately you won’t be included in the giveaways.

During the event we would have a lot of fun, besides reading and reviewing plays. There would be memes, game and giveaways; here in this blog as well as in Dessy’s blog (my co-host) and in other participants’ who have confirmed to host theirs as well. If you would like to host anything, you are always welcomed (except for meme, as we already have two); just fill in this form and let me know when you have done it (because I do not check everyday).

To put your link in the linky, please use this format:

Post title (blog name)

For example: Master Post (Fanda Classiclit)

For posts in Bahasa Indonesia only, please add [IND] behind your name
For example: Master Post (Fanda Classiclit) - [IND]

And last but not least, check in every once and a while, because from time to time I might post some updates, giveaways or other activities during the event. The updates would be placed on the top sidebar, under the Let’s Read Plays banner. If you have twitter, you can follow @Fanda_A for updates, or just check in #LRP which would be our official hashtag during the event.

To remind you, here's our reading theme schedule:

Nov '12 Shakespeare's Tragedy

Dec '12  Shakespeare's Comedy

Jan '13   freebie

Feb '13  Shakespeare's History

Mar '13 Greek

Apr '13  Shakespeare's Comedy

May '13  Shakespeare's Tragedy

Jun '13  Oscar Wilde

Jul '13    Other author

Aug '13 Shakespeare's Comedy

Sep '13  freebie

Oct '13  Shakespeare's Tragedy

Beloved by Toni Morrison

This is a bitter, powerful, yet beautiful novel about slavery in the South of America around the end of Civil War, or in the Reconstruction era. Beloved portrayed a devotional love of a mother towards her children which—when the worst, unthinkable terrifying situation was approaching—lead her to kill her daughter. Wait, do you mean she really killed her own daughter? How can you call that love? What kind of love is that—killing your own child? I know, before getting into the whole story, you will call it insanity, but wait until you finish it, you will understand why I could not condemn Sethe for committing such a cruel thing to her beloved daughter—whom she later did name Beloved.

Sethe had been through a lot of hard times during her slavery. Throughout the novel Morrison took us to see how white people had ill treated their slaves. Not only they tortured their slaves and took away their freedom, Beloved distinctly pictured how they dehumanized the slaves; so much that the slaves were even scared to love; that their definition of freedom was as simple as to be able to love and to have desires.

“To get to a place where you could love anything you chose—not to need permission for desire—well, now, that was freedom.”

The situation of Baby Suggs, when she was freed by her son, is more than sufficient to reflect what the slaves lost their entire lives. Baby Suggs and few of other characters in this book was fortunate to at last had freedom. But what about them who had lived their entire lives as slaves? And once they were free at last, how would they leave the dark past behind and take steps to the future?

And what Sethe must have endured here was so great—and I won’t write it down here explicitly, it was something you need to feel yourself—that she was determined to not let her children through the same path, ever. Morrison takes us to judge Sethe’s choice through other central characters—but mostly through Beloved, the victim.

Beloved is not an easy reading. Morrison takes us back and forth almost without any particular notice; through each character’s memory and point of view, the whole story is slowly and painfully revealed. It’s a bit strange and confusing at first, but you will get more familiar after few chapters.

I have read somewhere on the internet that Morrison based the story on a true account of a slave mother killing her children rather than having them be returned to slavery under the Fugitive Slave Act, so that they wouldn’t suffer being killed in another way. I don’t know whether it’s accurate or not, but one thing is sure: there is no greater thing in the universe, than love. Sethe killed her daughter not because she didn’t love her, but because she had never felt any kind of love most of her own life; and now—when she was finally able to love after so much sufferings—she would never give anybody a chance to take her children and let them suffer as she had.

Ah….I have tried so hard to picture my feeling through this review, but I guess I can never tell you how powerful this book had affected me and made me re-shape my definition of love. I will only close this review with an emotional dialog that will reflect the desperation and powerlessness of the slaves….

“Tell me something, Stamp,” Paul D’s eyes were rheumy.
“Tell me this one thing. How much is a nigger supposed to take? Tell me. How much?”
“All he can, said Stamp Paid. “All he can.”
“Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY?”

:(

Five stars for Beloved. And special thanks to Nishita, whose review made me want to read this book, and to Joon Ann and Listra who were reading this book with me...

-----

Toni Morrison is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon and Beloved (won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988).

Born as Chloe Adelia Wofford in February 18, 1931 from a work class family, Morrison grew up as a fervent reader; Austen and Tolstoy were among her reading list. She married a Harold Morrison in 1958, but divorced in 1964. She wrote a short story about a girl who longed to have blue eyes, and the story later on developed into her first novel: The Bluest Eye (1970), which she wrote while raising two children and teaching at Howard University.

Beloved (1987) was her fourth novel and brought her to success. Not only Pulitzer, it also won American Book Award. In May 2006 The New York Times Book Review named Beloved the best American novel published in the previous twenty-five years. In 1993 Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her citation reads: Toni Morrison, "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality." She is currently the last American to have been awarded the honor. In addition to her novels, Morrison has also co-written books for children with her younger son, Slade Morrison. Toni Morrison is currently a member of the editorial board of The Nation magazine.

[all from Wikipedia]

The Scarlet Letter – Summary Chapter XVII – XX

Chapter XVII – The Pastor and His Parishioner

Dimmesdale and Hester met each other in the forest; Hester told him that Chillingworth was his husband who wanted to take avenge, and encouraged him to leave the past and sought for new life elsewhere. Dimmesdale did not have the courage to make it alone, and asked Hester for help, which Hester agreed.

Chapter XVIII – A Flood of Sunshine

Right after their plan of leaving together was settled, Hester put off her scarlet letter which made her beauty shone again at once; and both she and Dimmesdale felt free and delighted, just as the sun suddenly brightly shone. Dimmesdale was afraid Pearl would not love him, but Hester insisted that she would.

“All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmitting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees.” (p. 173)

[source]

Chapter XIX – The Child at the Brookside

When Pearl returned to the scene from playing with animals and flowers on the other side of the brook, she refused to come to her mother, whom she was not familiar without her scarlet letter; and only after Hester put it back—and her shine of beauty vanished—Pearl came to her. However Pearl refused Dimmesdale’s affectionate kiss on her brow, and washed it at the brook.

Side note:

Hester felt estranged from Pearl when she put off the scarlet letter. Was it because Pearl born from the sin (thus symbolized by the scarlet letter), and when she denied it, she lost her bond with Pearl? Dimmesdale felt it too: “I have a strange fancy, that this brook is the boundary between two worlds, and that thou canst never meet thy Pearl again…” (p. 178)

[source]

Chapter XX – The Minister in a Maze

Out from the forest, Mr. Dimmesdale saw things around him differently; he had wicked thoughts in him now that were eager to burst out, and wondered where it came from or why it happened. He dismissed Chillingworth’s medical service, and casually hinted that he might left the city, then ended the night by re-writing his sermon for the next day’s Election—in his newly awaken passion.

A Letter To Arthur Dimmesdale – The Scarlet Letter

If I was one of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale’s parishioner in The Scarlet Letter, this is what I would write him….

Dear Rev. Dimmesdale,

I am your humblest parishioner, writing from my humblest heart, as I happened to know the deepest secret you have kept in your heart for the last seven years. I know that what you have done was a sin, no one would disagree that, but I also remember from your sermons, many times you have emphasized that our God is a Merciful God. Thus, when people fall in sin, and they really regret it and ask for repentance, you told us yourself, that God would forgive them. So, why don’t you just do that, instead of torturing your own soul with the realization that people see you as a holy person while you are far from it?

Dear Mr. Dimmesdale, no mankind is free from sin, Jesus was the only Man who have never committed sin. You might not know, but your colleagues are definitely sinners too, including your senior Rev. Wilson. Even St. Peter and St. Paul had also fell in sin in the past, and what Paul had done was as great as—if not greater than—adultery; he murdered a large numbers of Jesus’ followers! But look at what happened to him afterwards, God forgave him, and gave him a bigger task to gain much more souls to be baptist.

If I, your humblest parishioner, may share my humblest opinion of what you should do next—and this I collected from your sermons too, mind you—I think you must stop blaming yourself, it won’t bring you anywhere. You have committed a sin. Ask repentance from God. Leave the past behind. Remember what God had put you in your position for. Finish your job. Move from the parish if you want, but for God’s sake, build your new life and be useful for Him!

But, once again, I’m just a humble parishioner. I did not have the right to make decision for you, dear Mr. Dimmesdale. What I do know is that you should leave the parish, leave Hester Prynne and little Pearl, and especially that wicked Mr. Chillingworth. Ask God for a new spirit to build your new life. I can only pray for the best of you and to God’s plan for you.

--Your humble parishioner—