Nathaniel Hawthorne was a great American writer in his time. He saw problems in the government and the ways people lived their lives that were beyond his years. The Scarlet Letter was one of his greatest literary works, telling the story of a young woman plagued by a simple misdeed and shunned by all that she knew. He wrote this novel to try and show everyone at the time just how antiquated their ideas were and that it was time for a change in society. The Scarlet Letter was written with the purpose of mocking the strict practice of theocracy and how the church was basically controlling the government and how if the church didnt agree with something, the whole town could be manipulated to think the same way. He represented this in his book by showing how a once respected member of the community, Hester, became an outcast for life after making a simple judgement error. I am very grateful that things today are different and knowing that if I mess up in life, I can always pick up the pieces and count on my friends to be there for me. Back then, if you didnt follow the rules exactly, you had a dark cloud hanging over you for the rest of your life. All of your friends would turn on you and make your life miserable, there werent any true loyalties, and you couldnt really trust anyone. The Scarlet Letter took place in Boston, Massachusetts in the late eighteenth century. The United States was still greatly influenced by England and under a strict theocratic government. The author had many messages he wanted to get across in this book. He didnt agree with theocracy and didnt like the way members of the clergy were treated as if they could do no wrong and other members of society were all doomed to go to Hell for the slightest mishap. This book broke the mold by showing a minister who had done wrong, and how he would be punished for it, just the same as any other person. It went through how he was tortured inside, even though the...
