"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."1 Therefore, it makes sense that if mortals cannot bear the darkness, they [should not] not go there. If man dislikes "black night and yawning chasms,"2 then...

Early in my life I read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Seeing it as an assignment, however, I could not fully understand how to make judgment on its subject matter, nor could I appreciate the novel. Then, required only to decide whether I like it, my answer was simple: "It was a...