Anne's thoughts - The Scarlett Letter

I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this book. I really enjoyed it. I had a hard time imagining myself as a high schooler reading this, and understanding all of the symbolism in the book. Plus, I think that I would have been too naive to truly appreciate all that Hester went through. I would have probably said something like "Serves her right for messing around before while she was married to someone else." (Yes, I was a bit of a prude back then.) As an adult, I loved Hester. She was strong - and I love stories with strong women characters. She made a mistake and she took her punishment without flinching. She made her life a memorable one by wearing the "A" every day and serving all of those people that were shunning her. When she first stood on the scaffold, I wanted to cry for her. She was so exposed and could do nothing to stop it - and the reverend looked on, suffering silently, without saying anything to take away any of that pain. Did everyone else realize at this point that the reverend was the father?

Pearl was an odd little child. Some of the descriptions about her confused me. I could tell that the author was trying to make a point with her. She was so odd because she came into the world as a result of a "sin." Hester was a wonderful mother and never crushed Pearl's spirit but tried to teach her to not make the same mistakes her mother did. The scene at the brooke where Pearl would not come to her mother without the "A" was a favorite of mine. The "A" didn't mean anything bad to Pearl. It was the symbol of her mother and when that symbol was gone, it was like Pearl was looking at a stranger who sounded like her mother. It reminded me of my boys when I make a little change to the routine or change the furniture around. They get confused, irritable, and just unsure of what to do.

Another symbol in the book was Chillingsworth. He was certainly evil. I don't know why Hester ever married him - although he wasn't as evil when they got married. I wish we knew a little more about the marriage. Was it arranged? Hester clearly stated that she didn't love him, so why did she marry him? I really felt angry with him for making Hester conceal his true identity. He was plotting against her from the very beginning. His relationship with the reverend irritated me. He knew why the reverend was suffering and yet he kept giving him who knows what kind of medicine to keep him in pain. I wonder if the reverend would have died when he did if the doctor hadn't given him so much medicine.

The ending had good closure for me. I'm so glad that the reverend stood and took credit for his share of the "A" but was sad to see him die before he had a chance to be happy with Hester and Pearl. Hester again impressed me by her resolve to continue wearing the "A" through her entire life. I was happy to see that Chillingsworth gave Pearl some inheritance and even happier to believe that she chose not to accept it and live a happy life somewhere else. All in all, I plan on reading this book again - looking for more symbolism - and hope to make it through "The Custom House" without falling asleep. That was the hardest part of the book for me to read. It had too much other background information that I couldn't see was useful to the story. I see the reason now and want to read it again in hopes that I can make it through with a little more clarity.