Blogpost 1!

Blogpost #1: Chapters 1-3

The first chapter sort of sets up the story to be darker. The town’s prison described as dark, gloomy, kind of sad (much like you would imagine a prison to be like). Except, there’s a wild rose bush growing along the side door that spontaneously grew when Anna Hutchinson entered the prison that the prisoners find joy in and consider a blessing. I can’t really blame them. “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (pg. 46). In a place so dark and sad, it’s probably nice seeing color and beauty in one thing. I feel like that represents something huge in this story - that whatever she’s being accused of isn’t her fault and she doesn’t deserve to be incarcerated. From my prior knowledge of the story, I know a woman is accused of committing adultery. Maybe, Anna is that woman. Because the rose is a symbol for love, respect, courage, and passion. Passion and love are the probably causes to her sentence. 

In chapter two, it sets up the way this town deals with certain situations. Whipping was the most common form of punishment. I learned that Anna Hutchinson is in fact NOT the character being accused of adultery, it’s Hester. The town is full of gossips, much like every town in the world. People are always criticizing the rules and the people who make them. As if they can do better. No one is ever happy. Even if it doesn’t effect them at all. Most people think Hester should’ve been sentenced to death. Rash, much? I think so. I even believe having her wear A on her chest was overboard. I mean, it takes two to tango, right? Even though Hester refuses to name the man, I’m not sure they’d crucify him for it, even though they say they would. Her daughter, who’s a baby, is a living, breathing, representation of her sin. She’s holding onto her with her life. I think this means something, other than a mother holding her daughter. I think it means something way deeper. 

In chapter three, I think Hester finds comfort in the fact that the American Indian man is there to witness the events happening. Seeing with his own eyes what the Puritans are doing. I genuinely want to know what Pastor Dimmesdale would even do if she told them who the father was. I imagine that in this time period, men weren’t blamed for this sort of thing. It seems like the fair thing though, they both were participants in the sin. I also want to know if she’s doing it to protect him or their baby? If she is doing it to protect him, is it because she loves him or was the sin done purely out of lust? I have a feeling the mindset literary lens is going to come in handy a lot in this story in addition to gender.