Puritanism+Prevails+Reflection

One of the earliest subjects we studied as juniors this year was John Winthrop and his Puritan settlements. We learned that America was apparently founded as a “city upon a hill” for all eyes to be on and to serve as a primary example of the way a country should be designed. This pretentious point of view is reflected by the fact that Puritan settlements had the tendencies to isolate individuals due to their beliefs or sins. History has proven that we are a nation founded by the highly critical and extremely religious people who notoriously oppressed people, such as Anne Hutchinson. The question then remains, if America was created under such circumstances does Puritanism exist in our world today? Photographer Angela Strassheim certainly thinks so. As seen in her collection//[| Left Behind]//, Strassheim takes seemingly ordinary photographs and adds an unusually eerie aspect to the composition. In her photograph //(Prayer)// Angela portrays what she considers the average American dinner table, which includes a father and his two young sons taught to bow their heads in prayer before eating perfectly placed meal on spotless plates. No women are pictured in the photograph. Strassheim successful makes me wonder how prominent religion plays in the roles of people’s lives. It is nearly absent from mine. And if it does play a dominant role, do we as Americans have the tendency to discriminate or oppress people if they do not fit the mold of a “good Christian?” Nathanial Hawthorne certainly recognized our oppressive Puritanical qualities, which he enumerates in his novel, //The Scarlet Letter//. The story focuses on the branding of a woman, Hester Prine, who has committed adultery with the good Reverand Mr. Dimmesdale who is extremely well liked by the community. While Hester is made to be a public spectacle, friendless, and with a wild daughter, Dimmesdale, whose sin is not discovered, is treated with the utmost respect. Though Hester is the one who is theoretically banished from the community, Dimmesdale receives the harshest punishment. For fear that he will be treated with the same fear and disgust as Hester, Dimmesdale tries his hardest to hide his deepest secret even though all he wishes to do is admit to his terrible mistake. Hawthorne makes it clear that America had such an oppressive nature that it drove men into silent agony in which they attempted to become someone they were not in order to please the community. Strassheim’s //(Father and Son)// corresponds to such a statement. The photograph depicts a young boy of about eight or nine standing in front of his father in matching attire. The father wears a stern gaze and combs his son’s hair into a style similar to his. This strikingly unsettling photograph exaggerates the idea of forced conformity in America, something Arthur Dimmesdale certainly experienced. However, Anne Sexton, like Hester, did not attempt to conform to society, which she describes in the poem //Her Kind//. The poem reveals that although the American community is still in the business of distributing “scarlet letters” for those who do not fit the mold, Sexton is not ashamed of who she is. While some may be strong like Sexton, it is important that we as Americans recognize that we often view “differences” as “bad.” The extent of “badness” can get so extreme that men, like Jerry Falwell, find themselves blaming the Gay community and abortionists for the September 11th terrorist attacks. Why must we measure up a person’s character based only on what we, and we alone, consider “good” and “bad?” Why must we be so quick to hand out these “scarlet letters?” Why must we allow ourselves to be so narrow-minded and in turn oppress so many? If we truly are a “city upon a hill” we must set an example for the world as a community that accepts all regardless of “differences” or “past mistakes” and only encourages further growth and maturity. Only then will we be worthy of setting an example for the world.

[|Click here for more information and photography by Angela Strassheim]