Coetzee-AmericanCharacter

PURITANISM: The Faulty Roots of American Society



[|Forgot What Puritanism Is?]

The Puritan moral codes are too strict and are accompanied by overly harsh punishments. Due to the strictness, the values and codes contradict themselves, as the codes require citizens to lie about their past because they fear the harsh consequences of not conforming to the required Puritan image. As a result of this fear, the society consists of a community of liars, as all puritans’ “hearts are speckled and spotted with iniquity of which they cannot rid themselves” (Hawthorne, 116). The society, therefore, requires citizens to be more focused on a pure image rather than a pure truth; it creates a system where it is better to lie about sins and uphold a clean portrait rather than tell the truth and come to terms with iniquities, where truth is the “pure” virtue on which Puritans are meant to pride themselves off of. In addition, these overly rigid guidelines inhibit a freedom of expression. Hester Prynne, for example, expressed that as a result of her ostracism for sinning, she is “giving up her individuality” (Hawthorne, 71).

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Scarlet Letter Synopsis: Set in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, this tale of an adulterous entanglement that results in an illegitimate birth reveals Nathaniel Hawthorne's concerns with the tension between the public and private selves. Publicly disgraced and ostracized, Hester Prynne draws on her inner strength and certainty of spirit to emerge as the first true heroine of American fiction. Arthur Dimmesdale, trapped by the rules of society, stands as a classic study of a self divided.

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Wall 1 reflection and works used Wall 2: Individual expression in nature Wall 3: The foundation's transition to becoming community oriented Wall 4: The American Future: where dreams may or may not come true