The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne || Book Review

I think I only read this book because I wanted to see where the Easy-A movie retelling originated from. To be honest, I prefer the retelling to this book.

I also have no desire to watch any of the movie adaptations made from the book, apart from the one mentioned above of course.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

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Originally published: 1850

Pages: 282
Format: E-book

Plot from GoodReads:

Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and will not reveal her lover’s identity. The scarlet letter A (for adultery) she has to wear on her clothes, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. She struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.

Thoughts:

The book explores the themes of sin and guilt, and how society perceives situations surrounding that.

There are many contradictions when consequences to actions, and how some people are just excluded from certain treatments.

The preaching in the book is as good as it can get. In fact, it really got boring and irritating, and I couldn’t wait for finish the book just for it all to stop.

Of course the ever-present concept of sexism and blaming the woman for the sin is spread out throughout the book, and I can’t get over the ignorance of how society played out the blame game when it takes two to commit the sin discussed in the book.

The middle of the book slowed me down a little with details that added no real value to the story.

The whole book is filler with symbolism of different kinds to cover you up to your neck with the exploration of the themes.