an whipping oneself in a closet. The one character whose attitude was appealing to me was that of Pearl's. She showed that mistakes in a relationship often lead to bad situations. Her mischeif and connection to the devil are examples of just those situations. Character decisions played an euqally important role. For example, I thought the descision for Hester not to tell who was the father of Pearl on the scaffold to be very brave, but was wrong. She could have ended it a lot quicker if she told the truth. A descision that I supportted was the plan for Hester, the Reverend Dimmesdale and Pearl to leave town, because it was a way to start a new life.Certain questions came about when reading The Scarlet Letter. Many of them involved small details. . For example, why did Hester not tell her daughter at a younger age what the "A" embroidered on her clothes meant? Why did the minister wear elaborate garments when conducting his self-punishment in the closet? However, other questions were involving larger situations. Why did the minster keep quiet when he knew he wouldn't live for much longer? What made Hester finnally remove her scarlet letter (for a short period of time)?The Puritanic age was a harsh and brutal period of time. At many times, citizens had no rights whatsoever. The persecuted depended on the fate of the few elite, or the top officials of town. Their laws were srict regaurding having a child out of wedlock, and if not followed, a scarlet letter "A" would place itself upon that person(s). My thoughts on the whole Puritanic epoch are not sympothetic. The strict rules set guildlines and formed a society in which much of it had no problems. I would even think that if applied to currnet times, it would turn society around dramatically....
