Courage and Conviction in 1984 and The Scarlet Letter - Book Report/Review Example

Courage and Conviction in 1984 and The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter Hester accepts that she has sinned and realizes that she must pay the price for her crime. In doing so she becomes overwhelmed with courage and conviction and assumes a redemption that is denied to most of her fellow townspeople. For a woman who possesses Hester's strength of character, the route toward the wilderness of escape would also be a route toward the wilderness of admitting that those who judge her are her superiors. Winston smith in George Orwell's 1984 has less access to geographical escape, but his actions indicate that he lacks the personal convictions and character to deny himself had the opportunity. Hester Prynne's strength of character as well as her willingness to accept her fate prove to be valuable qualities necessary to succeed in an environment of conformity. Winston Smith's lack of courage as well as his fear of unpleasant consquences prevents him from expressing his true self. Though both characters stive to overcome the pressures of society, it proves to be more difficult than they anticipated. Hester comprehends the she must compensate for her offense, but her deeds reveal a veiled disobedience. Although Hester herself is not allowed to dress in anything but drab clothing with the only spot of light being her bright red letter, she rebels by dressing her daughter Pearl in gaily colored clothes that express a "wild, desperate, defiant mood" (66). A similar example of Hester's silent rebellion and steely independence is showcased in the form of her behavior when she leaves prison; her audacity compares favorably to the rather gloomy assemblage she walks past. Within Hester at this moment is a glow of self-awareness and dignity is far from what is expected of her by the other townsfolk as she moves with a determination that she will be the master of her fate. Hester's quite open rebellion is in contrast to Winston Smith's hidden acts. The difference could be explained away in terms of intensity of the opposition; Big Brother may deal with violators more excessively than the Puritan leadership. However, there is every reason to justify Hester's fear and potential for injury being just as great as Winston's. The explanation could also point to a fundamental difference in character between Hester and Winston. It is interesting to note that Winston works Ministry of Truth as a revisionist writer of historical fact and that the first act of rebellion he commits involved writing. Writing is a very solitary act, yet can be more powerful than speaking at a rally before thousands. It is not the act of rebellion that Winston chooses that is at odds with Hester; they both engage in truly subversive actions. Winston and Hester are both equally aware of the central contradictions and infidelities that exist within their respective societies, and they take different routes toward subversion. Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester continues publicly defying the strict moral culture that defines her society and its laws. While strolling through the street, it is the other people who react with contempt toward the red letter she wears, but Hester herself never makes an attempt to camouflage the manifestation of her sin even by covering it with her hand. Isolation from those who would inflict their perverse values and mores upon her may be Hester's greatest companion. While loneliness is hardly a desired state of affairs for most people, it has its advantages. The way a person thinks about the world is not instinctual; there is nothing natural about it. Thoughts, opinions and philosophies are not formed in a vacuum, but are created as a result of what one learns and acquires through interpersonal interaction. Seclusion proves the distinct advantage of being free from the mindless clutter of so many nattering nabobs. Freed from the counsel of those who would drain her of intelligence, Hester starts to view the scarlet letter she wears as having a kind of supernatural power that endows her with far more empathy and sympathy for the sins committed by others than those people have toward her. "Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed, from society, had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether foreign to the clergyman. She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. . . . The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers,-stern and wild ones,-and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss." It is the sense of relief that washes over her that she may still be in the Puritan society, but she is not of the Puritan society that frees Hester from the bondage of wearing the letter even while it is constantly draped around her. At the same time, she remains fully aware of her own sin and remains convinced that she is most guilty of all. This awareness, however, only serves to further encourage her determination to accept her fate and move on, not to let it eat away at her and destroy her. Winston too is driven by a sense of isolation from the rest of society and begins his rebellion with the ultimate act of remoteness: writing a diary. For Winston, the consequences of openly expressing heretical ideas is too risky, therefore he takes the safest route he thinks possible. Writing down his thoughts on paper, however, is still a dangerous act partly because Winston intuitively understands that he is condemned from the first word. Just the act of committing such thought crimes to paper is sentence to torture and from that moment he has two considerations to ponder: rebellion and fear of being caught. The tension that drives Winston's actions through the rest of the story stem from this duality of motivations. By contrast, there is a lack of tension in The Scarlet Letter precisely because Hester's motivation is not tempered by thoughts of being punished for her rebellion. In a sense, Hester's story begins where Winston's ends. The Scarlet Letter begins with Hester's sin already having been uncovered and punished. The duality that ignites the tension is expressed as a theme in the other writing that Winston does, his job at the Ministry of the Truth. The ironical title of the bureau where he works is a serviceable symbol for the lack of courage that all members of society live under. When one is never certain of even factual historical occurrences, it is rather easy to forgive people for unwillingness to express convictions. The genius of the state is in creating a condition of perpetual insecurity of the type that forces Winston into the unenviable state of catatonia. So ingrained and vital is this engendering of a hierarchy of false realities that even Julia contributes to the uncertainty, as when she confesses "You thought I was a good party member, pure in word and deed. Banners, processions, slogans, games, community hikes all that stuff. And you thought that if I had a quarter of a chance I'd denounce you as a thought criminal and get you killed off " (101). Even Winston, who is part and parcel of the process that refashions and tailors history to keep it constantly updated, can distinguish between conscious memories and propaganda fed to them by their leaders. "The party had invented airplanes" is just one of many illustrations of how deeply ingrained into the mindset of the people is the party's propaganda (127). The difference between Hester and Winston is that Hester is sure of herself at all times; she is a mirror image of the certainty of the Puritan society. On the other hand, Winston can be completely certain for he is a duplicate image of the uncertainty expressed even by Big Brother. Hester's commitment to maintaining her individualism and independence from the Puritan thought police is truly admirable and may be the primary element that differentiates her from Winston Smith. Her determination and resolve to keep her pride and dignity in the face of submitting to the rule of short-sighted and hypocritical leaders makes her a truly exceptional heroine. It is Hester's consciousness of her sin and her ability to accept it with distinction that transforms her perspective on both herself and the others in her society. Hester concede that committing adultery was a sin, but instead of giving herself over to the sinfulness behind the power structure that has hypocritically made her sin worse than theirs, she undertakes the challenge of accepting her punishment and becoming both a stronger and better person. It would appear from her acquiescence to wearing the letter at all times that Hester has submitted to the rigid controls of her society just as much as Winston seems to by the end of 1984. In fact, there is a certain acknowledged that Hester accepts and lives by the strained conformist mindset that is the hallmark of the Puritan way of life. For example, Hester behaves with such prudence that she is freed from the rumors and gossip and scandal for the rest of her life. In addition, she contributes to helping the poor and anyone whose needs it without responding to their insults and deprivations of her moral character. Hester's acceptance is a personification of the novel's conception that "It is to the credit of human nature, that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates. Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility." Winston Smith, of course, cannot be said to grow toward love out of the acceptance of his own failings. Where Hester exudes courage, Winston wastes away under the imposition of the potential of reality upon such abstract notions as moral principles. It is Winston's fear that is propagated by the societal constrictions on the elusive nature of reality by the state that results not in his opening himself to charity toward the failings of himself and others, but toward a deep self-hate and a virtual cage of muted hostility alchemically transformed into dispassionate love toward Big Brother. O'Brien and the party can't endure Winston's treachery. O'Brien enlightens Winston by informing him that is simply a blip on the radar. Like the Puritan political power structure, Winston's daring to rebel against what they consider a perfectly balanced utopia cannot be tolerated. The application of the scarlet letter upon Hester is a punishment, of course, but it is also meant to be a subtle instrument of coercion. The wearing of the symbol is intended not only to reaffirm in Hester's mind her iniquities against God and the Puritan system, it is also designed because of its exterior appearance to coerce others into the realization that they too will suffer the same fate should they betray the system. The threat of torture by the minions of Big Brother has the same effect. "You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves" ( 200). O'Brien is the personification of Puritan rule, symbolizing the very essence of a coercive and repressive system that uses brainwashing techniques to control the thoughts and actions and put a dent into the possibility of subversion among citizens. Hester is defiant on the outside as her pride will not allow her to bend to the submissive will of the majority, but emotionally she gradually experiences the need to change and evolve. What is at stake in this evolution of Hester is what is commonly known as redemption. Hester becomes an affectionate and proficient nurse to people and as a result her red letter also transforms. To those sick people who need Hester's counseling, scarlet letter takes on an almost heavenly glow that invokes Christian charity of the truest kind. At the beginning, Hester appeared merely as a dissenting voice against the shame of adultery. She was a one-crime violator and forced to wear the letter as punishment. But instead of making her acquiesce and submit to the rule of law and the ethical provisos that the punishment intended, Hester reacted rebelliously against her penalty. Unlike Winston, who remained locked in the death throes of fear and trepidation, Hester challenges not the punishment itself, but the fundamental theoretical basis behind the punishment. Like many a good New Englander to come, Hester eschews the role of simple dissent and moves toward outright heresy. Only Hester's heresy is to dare to act more like a Christian instead of less like one. The actions she commits to are ones of serve to pure Christian charity; she is far more Christlike in her acceptance and admission of her guilt than the Puritan leaders who punish her one transgression. Hester is able to accomplish what seems impossible for the Puritan power structure: true redemption and salvation. There will be no salvation nor redemption for Winston Smith, however, because he lacks a primary component that is available even to Hester Prynne. The element that makes redemption possible is universal truth. While postmodern convictions have distorted and even tried to kill the idea that universal truths exist, they do in the world of the Puritans through which Hester orbits. It is a universal truth within that system that two plus two equals four. For Winston, of course, even that elementary truth can be challenged. Redemption, as Hester proves, requires far more than glib obedience to words in a Bible; it requires sacrifice and dedication. But if those words in that Bible were constantly revised to meet ever-changing definitions, the concept of redemption would be reduced to a mere game of catch-up. It is the indefinite nature of Oceania that again rises to challenge Winston Smith's ability to hold fast to the courage of his convictions. As Syme explains, "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words... You haven't a real appreciation for Newspeak, Winston... Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it" (46). In a constantly changing paradigm of truth where all universals are diminished and destroyed, there is no chance of redemption or salvation. Those aspects that redeem one day may be used to crucify you the next. Redemption is impossible on Oceania, but that still doesn't excuse Winston for not even trying. By giving in, by crying out his wish that they torture Julia instead of him, Winston sheds off the last remaining vestige of his dignity and humanity. What separates Winston from Hester is not the extremity of his situation, but rather the fact that unlike Hester he gives in emotionally to the oppression. While Hester outwardly assumes the role of the obedient Puritan, she is a stronger and even more willful person by the end of her story than she was at the beginning. By contrast, Winston starts out strong by questioning the truth and tactics of Big Brother. That he has come to love Big Brother by the story's end is a testament to his very inability to express the truth that lay at the core of his being in the novel's opening pages. Winston Smith also wears a scarlet letter on his chest; it is a "C" and it stands for coward. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin. 2003. Orwell, George. 1984. New York: The New American Library Inc., 1983. Read More