the scarlet letter1

Since early times, Puritans have been known for their morality in discipline, religious intolerance, and harsh punishments for those defying their beliefs. These Puritan influences had a great impact on early American literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne provides an illustrated look into the Puritans and their community in his classic The Scarlet Letter. Through Hawthorne's use of tone, allusions with Hester and Dimmesdale, and the diction that is used to describe how the village behaves during the …

…good education and orderliness, were viewed through a disapproving attitude by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. The Puritanical berating disposition is created through his use of dark tone, religious and evil allusions of Hester and Dimmesdale, and the diction chosen to describe Hester's torment atop the scaffold. Through the author's suggested attitudes we, the readers, can see that social allegiance can sometimes mean the abandonment of good morals like caring for your fellow citizen.