The Scarlet Letter is a work of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Narrative: The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass – An American Slave written by Douglass shows a similar dehumanization. The characters are stripped of their identity, and reduced to labels like’slave or object’. Neither Hester or Douglass are viewed as real people but are instead viewed by what they’ve done. Both novels place a great deal of emphasis on the concept of identity. The protagonists are forced to struggle with their own identity while society imposes a new one. Both protagonists, despite their struggles with society, are able create their own sense of identity. Douglass finds freedom in constructing a novel identity. By describing his experiences and recording them, he can break free from the label’slave.’ This implies an illiterate identity. Hester builds her identity around Dimmesdale and not the label “adulterer”. The struggle to find a true identity is constant throughout these two novels.
In Frederick Douglass’s story, slaves lose their identities by suppressing the native language. A common tongue is important for slaves who are in a foreign environment. It gives them a feeling of belonging and collective history. A common tongue allows them to have a sense of community and a collective background. Douglass, who has created a community by using voice, reveals a truth that is contrary to this: ‘the maxim’, which states, “a still tongue can make a wisehead”. In this case the definition of maxim is ironic and redundant. It may be true in a world where people have the freedom to choose whether or not they want to stay silent. In this case, however, the maxim is a warning; slaves are told to keep their mouths’still’ or risk their own deaths. This ‘general statement’ has been manipulated to become a distorted truth. It is clear that their owners have the power to suppress their identity. They can not only control their body, but also their language. Slavery is not completely suppressed by the owners, as they cannot understand a language that slaves sing. The slaves understand the song as “a prayer to God” for release from their chains. It mocks those slave owners that want to control slaves. Due to their inability to hear the ‘tones,’ they fail to see the song for what it is. Also, the verb makes assumes that the only way to get a sage head is if you have a stout tongue. Both were co-dependent for the slave trade.
Hawthorne uses the famous red A’ to represent adulterer in The Scarlet Letter. This symbol is used consistently throughout The Scarlet Letter, and it suppresses Hester’s identity. Chillingworth implies that Hester’s adulterous status is a fateful one, and any resistance is futile. He declares: ‘I could have beenhold the balefire of that red letter blazing on the end of our way!’ It’s extremely ironic to suggest that Hester’s sin was predestined, but he uses a verb that implies uncertainty. Hester’s identity is at stake, yet he appears to share some of the blame for her fall with his use of ‘our way’. The implication is that Hester, as a blazing letter, wears it alone. Chillingworth uses the’scarlet-letter’ to symbolize Hesters sin, and then extends it into a blazing ‘bale fire’. This is a metaphor that has obvious overtones of passion, desire, and hell. Chillingworth suppresses the symbol as well as Hester’s sin over a period of seven years. This is a rejection of any responsibility that he may claim he takes for their ‘path.’ The instability of the fire symbolized by this symbol is important. Chillingworth’s feelings and his wife Hester’s actions can only be suppressed for a limited time before they are set ablaze.
As mentioned above, both protagonists of these novels are judged by the actions they take, not by their character. Hawthorne describes this act as Hester’s crime in The Scarlet Letter. A. N. Kaul argues if a person commits a sin, it will be damned. This theme is a major one throughout the novel. Hester’s identity is based solely on her sin. It is clear that Puritan society of the nineteenth century had a narrow view on sin. Hester is punished to a degree that the sin doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Hawthorne’s p.68 focuses on the simple fact of Hester’s sin, not the ‘how’. The key is the idea that she ‘fell’ into hell. The traditional view of hell being a physical descent is presented, as well as the lack of intention behind the sin. Hester was almost by accident sinning out of love. Kaul says intent is not relevant, since ‘anything that leads to damnation’. This implies that God’s will is judged and all actions are considered sins. Hester’s ascendance is a juxtaposition to this idea. As though she is in heaven, her ascension is to a pedestal for infamy’. This is to mock and ridicule her before the inevitable descent into hell. The ‘pedestal’ is used as a platform for judging her sins, and represents the scaffolding throughout the novel. Hawthorne believes that Hester’s Puritan family views Hester’s sin as the sum of all her other actions.
Douglass presents a narrative that shows different levels of wrongdoing and sin. The severity of the crimes is determined by human beings, not religion. The narrative presents the slave-trade as having a different level of morality than the rest of society: “I always measured my master’s kindness by the standard that slaveholders set for us.” (Douglass. p23). This concept of measured levels separates slavery and civilized society. It is also a question of truth that cruelty can be labelled as kindness. A different word for the same thing does not alter the truth. This narrative presents sin as the antithesis of The Scarlet Letter because it does not present black-and-white binaries. In this narrative, sin is not presented as a binary. Instead, it is presented in shades of grey. The slaves may not understand the morality of America because they are living in foreign countries. They may never know the truth about America. In this way, the impact of sin on a person’s identity depends not only on the act, but also on the society that it occurs in. Douglass believed that slaveholders with a slightly less brutal identity may appear kind.
This is because the construction of identity does not depend only on who you are, but how you relate to other people. Douglass’s story is an example where this is important. Douglass claims freedom by using narrative perspective. This allows a separation between his past and present self. The past tense of the word’slave’ is used to reject the label, implying that the identity of the slave has changed and it can no longer be applied. The use ‘a’ instead of a implies that the individual was part of a larger group. His lack of identity contrasts with the one he creates for himself. Also, the use past tense of’slave’ can be interesting. Slavery is considered to be a legal obligation and only a few slaves ever lived beyond this role. Douglass argues against this, using the past, by presenting slavery in the past as a career choice, and not an unavoidable state. Douglass also rejects the claim that slaves were victims.
The Scarlet Letter continues to explore this theme. Hester and Chillingworth are not conscious of creating groups like ‘us and ‘them,’ but their gender differences and inadequacy naturally separate them. Chillingworth bemoans: “How could i delude myself that intellectual abilities would hide physical deformity within a young woman’s fantasies?” This ‘delusion,’ as Hawthorne puts it, shows Chillingworth to be an incapable old man. He may be intelligent but this will not fulfill Hester’s ‘fantasy.’ This idea is carried on in the ‘[veiling] Chillingworth’s facial features that both alludes matrimonial imagery and also suggest an imposed surfaceness in Hester. Her love will be given to her based upon appearance. The opposition between mental gifts, such as ‘intellectual’ and physical gifts, such as ‘youth’ and ‘beauty’, separates the two, with the assumption being that a person can only possess one of these, depending on their gender. The connotations ‘gifts’ suggest an attempt at bridging this gap, and a desire to compensate academically for what Chillingworth is unable to provide. This remains a delusion, however, throughout the novel. The only thing that his intellect produced was paranoia and grief. Hester, because of her gender, is more focused on her appearance. The idea that a ‘fantasy,’ which is not tangible, represents an ideal men can never reach. Both texts are based on the same idea, but they differ in how identity is constructed. Douglass asserts a liberation through writing, but Hawthorne’s character are limited by stereotyping of gender, so their identity is constructed by society.
Hawthorne’s work and Douglass’s works are interconnected by the idea of New World liberation, allowing protagonists the freedom to build their own identity and live the way they want. Both novels give the reader the opportunity to accept a different lifestyle and live in a new human family. The protagonists are shown to be corrupt in an America that is supposed to be free. This further reinforces the notion that while the protagonists have made mistakes, the real villains in the story are the people they live with. The protagonists are forced to hide their true identity by society. Only when they understand that the society is not new, but still corrupt, can they gain their freedom. Rejecting social expectations allows protagonists to reclaim their human identity and be people who are no longer shaped by others.
