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1、Hester Prynne - Resurrection ContentsChapter One: Biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne.P1Chapter Tw Depravity-the Origin of the Scarlet Letter.P2Chapter Three: Hester Prynnes Resurrection - From Suffering and Redemption toSalvation.P5Conclusion.P10References.P11Abstract: The Scarlet Letter makes the Ame
2、rican writer Nathaniel Hawthorne known all around the world. Hawthorne is a pious Christian, and is deeply influenced by the theology. Hes so much indulged in the religious doctrine that people can find the reflection of the God almost everywhere in his works. After reading The Scarlet Letter, one i
3、s mostly impressed by the spirit of The Bible the story depicted. The book chiefly discusses sin and how to atone for it. Hester Prynne is the heroine of the fiction. This paper researches her fate to illustrate the influence of The Bible to Hawthorne. Hester Prynne commits adultery and is forced to
4、 wear a scarlet letter “A” on her breast. At the beginning, she encounters all kinds of sufferings, both from the society and from her own soul. However, she realizes her sin and tries her best to atone for it. And she dose not choose to avoid her fault. Finally, through her endeavor, God forgives h
5、er. In short, sin and atoning for sin, that is the purpose of this paper.Keywords: The Scarlet Letter., Hester Prynne, The Bible, sin and atonement.摘要：红字使美国作家纳撒尼尔霍桑誉满全球。霍桑是一个虔诚的基督徒，并深受神学的影响。他是如此沉迷于宗教的教义之中，人们几乎可以发现神在他的每部作品中无处不在。读完红字，给人印象最深的莫过于故事描绘的圣经的精神。该书主要讨论了关于罪与赎罪的问题。海丝特白兰是小说的女主人公。本文主要研究她的一生以说明圣经对
6、霍桑的影响。海丝特白兰犯了通奸罪，并被迫在胸口上带一个大写的红色字母“A”。一开始，她遭遇了各种各样的磨难，既有来自社会的也有来自她自己精神上的。然而，她认识到了自己的罪行并尽最大努力去赎罪，并且她并没有选择逃避责罚。最后，通过她的努力，神原谅了她。简言之，本文的主要目的就是罪行以及赎罪。关键字：红字，海丝特白兰，圣经,罪行以及赎罪。 Chapter One: Biography of Nathaniel HawthorneWith the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne became one of
7、the greatest writer at that time and built his reputation as a major American author. Since that time on, people began to take great interest in all aspects of his life and a great many biographical and critical studies had been written about him and his works. He is also becoming more and more popu
8、lar and familiar with Chinese readers. Since the Chinese translation of The scarlet Letter appeared in 1950s, scholars and readers in this country have shown an ever-increasing interest in his works.Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Some of his ancestors were bi
9、g shots in seventeenth-century New England, which was under the control of Puritanism. One of them was a colonial magistrate, notorious for his participation in the persecution of Quakers, and another was a judge at the Salem Witchcraft Trail in 1692. Gradually, the family fortune declined. Hawthorn
10、es father was a sea captain, who died in an accident and left his mother and him behind to struggle to live for themselves. Young Hawthorne was quite aware of the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors, and this awareness made him believe that evil was at the core of human life. To some extent, Hawthorne
11、 wrote some of his books, such as The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gambles to try to make up for the sin of his ancestors.Hawthornes writing skills can be concluded as follows:Firstly, all his life, Hawthorne seems to be indulged in his sense of sin and evil in life. Reading his books,
12、one cannot but be overwhelmed by the black vision which these books reveal. Evil exists in the human heart all the time. For instance, in the short story, “ Earths Holocaust,” we can find that, though all symbols of tradition and the past have been burned in the bonfire of the life of the New World,
13、 the source of evil-the human heart, remains intact. Everyone possesses some evil secret as tales like “ Young Goodman Brown” set out to prove. Everyone tries to cover up its innermost evil in the way the minister Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter tries to pretend how pure and pious he is. Evil seems
14、 to be mans birthmark. This point of view is just as what The Bible describes peoples original sin.Secondly, to Hawthorne, sin will surely get punished, one way or another. As a matter of fact, he was said to be always troubled by the thought that the decline of his familys fortune had something to
15、do with the sins of his Puritan ancestors. Hawthorne deeply believes that “the wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive ones”(The House of the Seven Gambles). It is also interesting to note that Hawthorne believes that evil educates. What Hawthorne seems to prove is that man can get e
16、xperience from the crime which brings about the disaster.In short, to tell the truth and yet not to offend, that is all Hawthorne tries to achieve in his works.“Chapter Tw Depravity-the Origin of the Scarlet LetterThe story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, which is under Puritan command. A youn
17、g woman, named Hester Prynne, is sent ahead to America by her husband-an old and ugly scholar. However, for many years, he himself doesnt arrive. Obviously, it is possible that he has been lost in the sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester and a young local minister called Arthur Dimmesdale fall
18、 in love with each other. They commit adultery secretly. Because of Hesters Pregnancy, the secret is finally discovered.According to The Bible, everyone is sinful. That is the opinion of the original sin: when God creates the world, He first creates a man called Adam and then a woman called Eve. The
19、y live happily in the Garden of Eden. God tells them that they can eat every kind of fruit in the garden except those on the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Instigated by the serpent, the two can not control their curiosity and violates Gods order and eat the fruits from that particular tree. Th
20、at enrages God. From that time on, they become sinful and are expelled from the Garden of Eden. However, sin doesnt stop. It is passed from generation to generation by reproduction of Adam and Eve. All successive generations are their descendants and therefore inherit their sin. So at the time one i
21、s born, he/she bears evil and has the root of committing crime.According to the principle of the original sin, Hester Prynne is not an exception. She is also the offspring of Adam and Eve. The inside of her flows their bloods and she of course inherits their original sin. Thus she is a sinner from t
22、he beginning of her life.Are there any other standards to judge whether a person is sinful?The answer is positive. The criterion should not be the common custom. Instead, it should be the Gods standard. Because according to the common custom, it is very difficult to judge sometimes. Everybody is a m
23、ixture of virtue and evil and the emphasis of everyones selfish desire is quite different. Some cravenly fear death, some cling to womans charms, some seek only profits and some hanker after reputation. Some are frank and honest and others sly and cunning. Therefore it is hard to decide who is right
24、 and who is wrong. Furthermore, the common custom is relative and changing. For example, twenty years ago, to commit adultery was enough to ruin a persons fame. However, in todays society, cohabitation before marriage is universal. Besides, although some people display higher moral standards than ot
25、hers, they still cant get rid of selfishness and avoid committing crime. If we adopts the criterion of the common custom, although we know that we are not innocent, we will comfort ourselves that we may be worse than some people, but still better than others.Thus we can only use Gods criteria to dec
26、ide whether or not a person is sinful. Gods criteria are The Ten Commandments and The Seven Deadly Sins.The Ten Commandments:I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
27、 anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousa
28、nd generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabba
29、th to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seven
30、th day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.You shall not murder.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.You shall not give false testimony against your neighbo
31、ur.You shall not covet your neighbours house. You shall not covet your neighbours wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.(Exodus2,14)The Seven Deadly Sins: a)Pride; b)Lechery; c)Envy; d)Wrath; e)Sloth; f)GluttonObviously, according to the
32、se criteria, Hester Prynne is quite sinful. She is sinful because she disobeys God by committing adultery. When Chillingworth - Hester Prynnes husband sent her to the New World, although there was no love at all between the couple, she shouldnt forget that she had already got married. She had a husb
33、and, who was just missing at that time. However, she could not control her vicious desire and had a love affair with the minister - Dimmesdale. Thats not forgivable according to Catholicism. Thats insult to God. Thats betrayal! In such a situation, Hester Prynne forgot Gods instruction and was compl
34、etely degenerated. She is a blaspheme to God.So from the very day of her crime, Hester Prynne has to bear all the sufferings that follow. Every sin must be punished. All our behaviors and deeds cant pass away easily. Our wrong-doings are hateful in that they not only deprave ourselves, but also offe
35、nse others and especially God. Hesters behavior is disgraceful and she is looked down upon by others. Furthermore, her adultery affronts God. God is just and fair. God will not forgive your fault carelessly. According to Tom Waltson, the nature of sin is evil:Firstly, sin fouls people; sin is not on
36、ly a flaw, but also a contamination. Sin to soul is the same as rust to gold. It is just like a blemish on a beautiful thing. The Bible compares sin with “plague”(1King, 8, 38). Sin fouls Gods image and stain the pure of soul. It makes God “grew weary of” the sinners (Zechariah,8,11); and when “you
37、will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done”(Ezekiel,20,43). Apostle Paul said in2 Corinthian, 7, 1 that “everything contaminates body and spirit”.Secondly, Sin makes God worry. “do not grieve the
38、Holy Spirit of God”(Ephesians, 4, 30). Sin is deliberately an affliction to God. God doesnt like sin because sin makes God be insulted. So to worry God is a big crime.Thirdly, sin is contrary to God. A sinner trends on Gods principle and violates Gods decree.Fourthly, sin brings evil. Sin is like th
39、e Trojan horse (The Greeks sieged Troy for many years without result. One day, they got an idea. They pretended to retreat, leaving a huge wooden horse, in which a number of Greek heroes had hidden themselves. The Trojans, who were too happy to reflect on the situation, brought the horse inside the
40、city as a war trophy. In the following night, the Greeks came out and attacked the unsuspecting and celebrating Trojans, and finally conquered Troy), which has a common outlook and terrible things inside.Lastly, sinners who dont repent will die out. Unrepentant sin brings about “ the second death”(R
41、evelation 20,14)(Xi Tong Shen XueChapter Three: Hester Prynnes Resurrection - From Suffering and Redemption to SalvationSins must be punished.Siners must be suffering. It is a startling fact that the whole life time of every human being includes a certain amount of suffering. All people suffer: rich
42、 or poor, smart or dumb, Christian or non-Christian. Suffering of some kind is part of Gods plan for everyone. Suffering can be defined as the lack of one or more of the things that constitute the perfect life. As we know, there are many things of this kind. Things related to ones personal life, fam
43、ily life, social life, community life and national life; things like loved ones, friends, money, health, marriage, sex, job, etc. And when you lose one of these things that you enjoy, the result is suffering.Suffering occurs by several means in human life, including the following:l Suffering of loss
44、 of health - physical pain, fever, paralysis, deaf, blindness, mute, etc.l Suffering of the lack of daily necessities - food, clothing, shelter, etc.l Suffering from the nature - floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, storms, as well as freezing or hot weather, volcanoes and blizzards.l Sufferin
45、g from mental agony - worry, sorrow, fear, anguish, jealousy, etc.l Suffering of being treated unfairly by law, regulation, standard or by other people.Everyone in this world is and must be suffering. You can find this opinion in The Imitation of Christ: Wherever you are, wherever you go, you are mi
46、serable unless you turn to God. So why be dismayed when things do not happen as you wish and desire? Is there anyone who has anything as he wishes? No- neither I, nor you, nor any man on earth. There is no one in the world, be he Pope or king, who dosent suffer trial or anguish.(Chapter 22: Thoughts
47、 on the Misery of Man). But why all of us must be suffering? The reason is the original sin and crimes that people commit. And only through suffering can one get merit and learn experience.However, suffering doesnt prove that God is cruel. “He is good; his love endures for ever”(2 Chronicles,5:13) G
48、od makes people suffer not because He wants to see misfortune. Instead, suffering is God charity. We have stated before that sin is terrible. In fact, sufferings are brought about by sins, not God. Sufferings are to prove sins evil nature, make people realize it and avoid committing sins. So sufferi
49、ng is just a means by God to educate people. It means that God doesnt give up anybody, even the sinner. God makes sinners suffer to impress them deeply and also warn others the blackness of sins. Therefore, the purpose of suffering is to save the sinners. “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not desp
