Temptation as Recurrent Theme in Literature: Hawthorn's Scarlet Letter and Poe's Telltale Heart - Book Report/Review Example

Temptation as Recurrent Theme in Literature: Hawthorn’s Scarlet Letter and Poe’s Telltale Heart Introduction: Throughout literature, the idea of temptation has found a profound and resilient position. Temptation and sin are primary concerns addressed in the Bible itself which, in turn, has influenced literature like, perhaps, no other source. In this paper I will refer to Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Telltale Heart and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s magnum opus The Scarlet Letter to illustrate how time and again writers have attributed the downfall of characters to temptation. Temptation, I hope to prove, remains a source of anxiety and concern through several stages of time as reflected in the literature of that age and is used deliberately to symbolize the reason for why characters fail. The Scarlet Letter: Temptation in the context of Puritanism In Hawthorne’s novel, the main victims of temptation are the protagonists: Hester and Dimmesdale, perhaps, even Pearl. Hawthorne is particularly sympathetic with his characters and not with the society they inhabit. For instance, the opening lines can be seen as a sardonic commentary on the author’s own times: The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison (Hawthorne 39). This sets the stage for the hypocritical image of the mob or crowd that Hawthorne draws in his novel. The context of temptation, thus, can be said to be this world of taboos and repression that makes yielding to temptation both easier and more difficult. It is easier since repression makes temptation and sin appear more desirable than usual, and its also harder since in this environment of moral condemnation yielding to temptation has harsher consequences. Hawthorne seems to also agree that the hypocrisy and taboo-ridden Puritanical society of erstwhile Boston are what cause Dimmesdale and Hester to commit their ‘crime.’ Apart from the context of temptation, yielding to temptation is another aspect of this issue that marks the entirety of the plot. Hester Prynne’s life, indeed, her very identity is marked by the scarlet letter that was given to her as punishment for her sin. As is retold in Chapter 19, Pearl refuses to recognize her mother without the scarlet letter that has come to mark her identity: Seen in the brook, once more, was the shadowy wrath of Pearl’s image, crowned and girdled with flowers, but stamping its foot, wildly gesticulating, and, in the midst of all, still pointing its small forefinger at Hester’s bosom! “I see what ails the child,” whispered Hester to the clergyman, and turning pale in spite of a strong effort to conceal her trouble and annoyance. “Children will not abide any, the slightest, change in the accustomed aspect of things that are daily before their eyes. Pearl misses something which she has always seen me wear!” (Hawthorne 164). In a context of social repression, therefore, temptation is seen as something that not only motivates people to commit sin once, but mars them as sinners forever. However, the trajectory from innocence to sin via temptation does not end in the same way for all. In the case of Hester Prynne, the scarlet letter and the resultant social ostracizing that she and her daughter face act as her atonement. Through her actions of kindness, her dignity and silence, which make her refrain from creating a scandal and placing a priest in trouble, Hester manages to reach Redemption. For Arthur Dimmesdale, this is not possible. As he never is publicly acknowledged as an adulterer, he never gets to atone for his sin. He is left with a simulacrum of mock confessions in front of his congregation who will not take him at his word, with painful self-denial and torture as symbolized by the scarlet letter that is brandished on his chest. Dimmesdale is an alternative conclusion to the path of temptation. Through his two protagonists, Hawthorne explores the possible outcomes of yielding to temptation. There is, however, another possibility. If we consider Roger Chillingworth and his actions against Dimmesdale as yielding to the ancient temptation of revenge, he too may be considered a third alternative path of its progress. Chillingworth enters the plot at a crucial juncture and embodies a sin greater than that of Hester and Dimmesdale. His deformed physique is a symbolic reminder of his nature and ways. His actions are not determined by either atonement, as in the case of Hester, or guilt in the absence of atonement, as in the case of Dimmesdale. He is motivated purely by the thought of revenge. As he yields to temptation and stays completely unrepentant, he must die as soon as his victims are out of his grips. Through The Scarlet Letter we see therefore how temptation is used to justify and portray the actions of characters and the action of god upon them. Those who yield to temptation must suffer for it. The lessons learned, as it were, appear to be: If you suffer with dignity, you will perhaps be redeemed, as in the case of Hester. If you do not reveal your sin, you will suffer in silence and guilt, as we see with Dimmesdale. And if you go unrepentant, you will have no chance whatsoever at redemption and must answer on Judgment Day, as in the case of Chillingworth. We also see a social commentary on the idea of temptation and even the hint that, perhaps, society can help curb its disastrous effects on (often good) people by removing its hypocrisies and taboos. ‘The Telltale Heart’: Guilt as the Product of Temptation Edgar Allan Poe’s chilling short story The Telltale Heart is remarkably different from Hawthorne’s novel. While the latter is a compassionate account of a woman scorned by society, the former is a horror story about a hysterical killer wracked with guilt. However, both these stories have the common theme of temptation. In this case, the narrator yields to his temptation of killing the old man for nothing more significant than his stone eye: Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever (Poe 1). Citing such a minor and flawed reason for committing a sin as grave as murder must naturally have its consequences, and this is what turns into the hysterical guilt that overcomes the narrator. Unlike in the case of Hester, this crime has no justification whatsoever. There is, therefore, no scope of redemption, as was true in The Scarlet Letter. The only possible outcome of yielding to temptation in this situation is the narrator’s total self-destruction. And this is exactly what happens when the narrator invites the policemen and works himself up into confessing his crime. Guilt, as in the case of Arthur Dimmesdale, is the primary moving factor in the plot. It is guilt born of temptation that drives the narrator into his ‘disease’ and forces him to give himself in. It is as if temptation and succumbing to it must necessarily be punished, whether by external forces, divine forces or by the committers themselves. Conclusion: To conclude, therefore, temptation and its various effects have been used repeatedly in literature, across the ages, to represent the source of sin and sometimes the source of redemption. Whatever the final effects of yielding to it may be, the paths followed by protagonists are motivated primarily by and are a product of temptation. Sources: Poe, Edgar A. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’ Literature.org. Web. 9 Jan. 2012. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Brian Hardin. Oxford: New York, 1990. Print. Read More