Mental and Psychological Event
Mental and Psychological Event in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, written by the famous Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many elements of mental and psychological events going on throughout the novel. These forms of events are found mostly in discoveries made by the main characters of the book, which are Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. These discoveries make the readers emotions flurry and bubble. By using literary techniques and romanticism, Hawthorne is able to give the characters' discoveries a sense of suspense, excitement, and climax. The first important discovery, which is made by Hester Prynne, occurs when she first realizes that her husband, Roger Chillingworth, is present at the scaffold scene where she is being punished for her acts of adultery: It was sufficiently evident to Hester Prynne that one of this man's shoulders rose higher than the other. Again, at first instant of perceiving that thin visage and the slight deformity of the figure, she pressed her infant to her bosom with so convulsive a force that the poor babe uttered another cry of pain [...] Very soon, however, his look became keen and penetrative. A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly ov
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses psychological and mental conflicts instead of the traditional physical conflicts. For the brief space that it lasted, it was a dark transfiguration. Furthermore, Hawthorne also shows a more evil side of Dimmesdale, by using words such as, Devil, violence, blacker, frown, and dark. Finally, the last discovery happens when the Townspeople discover the sins of Dimmesdale, which will end with his redemption and his victory over the evil known as Roger Chillingworth. Now, readers realize that this is Dimmesdale's great triumph over evil, "'Ha, tempter! Methinks thou art too late!' answered the minister, encountering his eye, fearfully but firmly. Hawthorne makes this final discovery exciting and suspenseful by using words like, tumult, surprise, perplexed, and silent. Deformity, writhing horror, and darkened are words used by Hawthorne to describe Chillingworth, to convince readers that Chillingworth is an evil and dark person. By using literary techniques and romanticism, Hawthorne is able to give the characters' discoveries a sense of suspense, excitement, and climax. These words also set the tone of suspense and excitement of this passage. The romantic element is used to describe what Chillingworth has done to Dimmesdale, by weakening him physically and mentally, resulting in destroying his human spirit and will to live. The men of rank and dignity, who stood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken by surprise and so perplexed as to the purport of what they saw-unable to receive the explanation which most readily presented itself, or to imagine any other-that they remained silent and inactive spectators of the judgment which Providence seemed about to work. When she forces Pearl to cry in pain, it lets the readers know that something is wrong, and that she is not looking forward to meeting this dark man in the crowd. 'Thy power is not what it was! With God's help, I shall escape thee now'"(235)! The town's discovery of Dimmesdale's sin marks the end of the battle between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. (236)The townspeople are taken by surprise when they discover that the man Hester made love to was their own minister, the great Dimmesdale. Again this adds more excitement for the readers and is a major turning point in the story, that will eventually lead to his confession and victory from his nemesis, Roger Chillingworth.
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