The Central Theme Of Shame In The Scarlet Letter

In todays American culture, you may have noticed that we are almost encouraged to feel shame about ourselves. While ample amounts of graphic violence are A-OK to show even on public television, Heaven forbid one of us catch a glimpse of a nipple (even in an entirely non-sexual context). We may be living in a world that is becoming gradually more accepting of homosexuality, but a young gay man must still be apprehensive about the way in which his news will be received by those around him. We are taught to covertly deny so much of what we are that we cant help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt about who we are. Especially those of us with Jewish parents.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne investigates this subject by focusing on his protagonist, Hester Prynne, a young woman who is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter A to inform all passersby that she has committed aggravated assault. Err... adultery. Granted, adultery is an offense that not many would argue should be shown absolute leniency, but the degree to which she is punished for her transgression and the extraordinary contempt with which she is met by her friends and neighbors is beyond excessive.

When studying this classic in an AP English Literature class, you are likely to examine such themes as revenge, hypocrisy and isolation - and, in fact, each of these are certainly prevalent issues explored within the text - but we submit that no theme is more central here than that of shame.

It is clear when reading The Scarlet Letter that Hawthorne wishes us to feel compassion for Hester, not to revile her for her wrongdoing. Rather he seems to be pleading with the reader to forgive her - to realize that we are all human and very capable of mistakes. (Some of us more than others.Ahem.) He insinuates that, should we not be so immersed in a culture of loveless marriages and repressed sexuality, perhaps acts such as Hesters could be more easily avoided, or at least be better understood.

Although we are no longer living in Hawthornes time, the value of our self-image is still largely informed by the society in which we live. We are bombarded by commercials telling us what we should buy to fix ourselves, films telling us what we should look like and politicians and law-makers telling us how we should behave. Hawthorne recognized how detrimental this self-imposed feeling of shame can be, and this book is a cry for us to be more accepting of ourselves as well as of others, no matter our indiscretions.

So, if youre taking the SAT and you come across the following analogy problem:

THE FOUNTAINHEAD : INDIVIDUALITY :: THE SCARLET LETTER : ?

... you cant go wrong with shame.