Examine the authors portrayal of how societies treat individuals who have had illicit relationships in 'The Scarlet Letter' and 'Nineteen eighty Four'.

Nushian Taj

English literature: coursework

Examine the authors portrayal of how societies treat individuals who have had illicit relationships in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Nineteen eighty Four’

‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ are novels about suppressed societies, in which individuals have limitations on their thoughts and behaviour. ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a tragic story of a woman’s shame. It shows her suffering in the hands of a puritan society, she lives in. the novel reflects Hawthorne’s life as Hawthorne claims to have discovered the manuscript of the novel where he worked. The novel was re written to show the parallels between Hawthorne’s working life and the individuals in the ‘The Scarlet Letter’. ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ is a novel by George Orwell which tells the story of Julia and Winston’s relationship in a territorial society. The novel seems to resemble the childhood of Orwell. This essay examines the author’s portrayal of society and how the societies have affected individuals mentally and physically and will show the individuals and illicit relationships.

Both ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ were written in different time periods. The time periods reflect the attitudes of the individuals and the way society works. George Orwell wrote ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ before the year commenced. Therefore at the time it was written, the novel may have been seen as a futuristic novel. The difference between ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is that in the ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the past plays a major role. The characters are dependent on their past whereas in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, George Orwell intends to demonstrate that the past is non existent. The past is non-existent because of the Ministry of Truth. This alongside the party controls and alters history in order to benefit them. O’Brian expresses this ‘who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’. The meaning George Orwell is trying to oppress is that the structure of society will remain eternally. We can draw a similarity between the party and the church in ‘The Scarlet Letter’. In the ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the church has the power over all individuals in society. It is based around the belief of Protestants. It is hypocritical as Dimmsdale is a key figure of the church but he had an affair with Hester that resulted in the birth of Pearl and the downfall of Hester in the eyes of society. Another similarity between the novels is that in some aspects the past is cherished. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ Winston admires objects from the past in Mr Charington’s Shop. ‘A peculiarly beautiful book’. The way Winston sees the past is a thing of beauty and hope. In the ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the past is important as it helps Hester rebel more, knowing that her relationship with Dimmsdale is forbidden in society and her relationship with Chillingsworth would traditionally be more admired hence encouraging her to wear the letter ‘A’ with more pride and joy.

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The narrative structure of both novels is extremely different. ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ is written as a first person narrative and has a journalistic style. This effectively shows the fear of the Thought police and Winston’s fear of everything connected to Ingsoc. Or English socialism. The narrative structure of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ resembles a typical American novel. ‘The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it throws off the sunshine with a gleam’. The narrative structure in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ shows that society is preoccupied to their roots and origins. Therefore rejects any illicit relationships. Quite the opposite can be said about ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. The society needs to learn from its history. But even though both societies have different backgrounds, neither tolerates illicit relationships. Hence both societies need to see things through new eyes, in an open prospective.

In both novels the language changes as the individual’s relationships progress. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ the language at the beginning of the novel is based around the theme of decay and dust.’ Bombed sites where the plaster dust swirled in the air and the willowherb straggled over the heaps of rubble’. As Winston and Julia’s relationship develops, the language becomes more pure and beautiful. 'The bluebells was so thick underground…’ The language then becomes aggressive and violent. We come across the scene of room 101, where Winston is tortured. He soon forgets about Julia and becomes to love Big Brother. In ‘The Scarlet Letter’ as Hester first is rejected by society; the language is restricted and very descriptive. The narrative contains morals that are later revealed in the novel. ‘This rosebush had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson’. Just like the language blossoms in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, when Winston meets Julia, the language in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ when Hester meets Chillingworth in the woods. After this event the language becomes more flexible as Hester becomes more accepted to society. Even thought the language changes in both novels and relationships develop, as the novel progresses, society on a whole remains the same. The question to ask is that if the languages why can change and the values for individuals can change why cannot the societies? The narrative structure and the language changes in ‘The Scarlet Letter’, which helps the reader, follow up on the development of relationships. The letter ‘A’ changes as the novel progresses. It first stands for adultery and by the end alternates in meaning and stands for able. As the letter ‘A’ becomes more recognised so does the illicit relationship between Hester and Dimmsdale. It is first recognised Chillingsworth and after this Hester becomes more recognised by society.

Here are many themes running throughout ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. We can draw similarities between some of them like the woods in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and the golden country in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. Both areas are a mean of escape where illicit relationships can take place openly. And individuals can freely express their emotions and feelings towards one another. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ the golden country is a dream to Winston, it eventually becomes reality when he meets Julia and she shows a place where no Big Brother rules are practiced and no telescreens are in operation. ‘In ragged hedge on the opposite side of the field the boughs of the elm trees were swaying very faintly in the breeze’. The language is very flowing and resembles summer time, freshness and independence. Similarly in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the woods are at the edge of the town where no one can hassle Hester. Here nature shows sympathy towards Hester as no one else does. This shows that puritans have no passion and that the woods seem to be a place where Hester can take off the letter ‘A’ and feel that she can escape all sins. Society has no role to play in both areas.

In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ here is the theme of urban decay, which is similar to theme of nature of evilness in ‘The Scarlet Letter’. The urban decay in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ is a visual reminder of totalitarian regime in which Winston lives in. it shows the imagery of rotting and decaying of London. I feel it also strongly resembles Winston and Julia’s relationship. As the city is shown destroyed, their relationship also begins to decay and eventually is destroyed. At first Julia begins to feel distant and lacks in concentrating on Winston’s believes and interests. He relationship then is destroyed when they are caught and parted whilst Winston is tortured he loses interest in Julia. In ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the nature of evilness also has the same effect. The only difference being one relationship being created. The ‘black man’ is associated with Dimmsdale. The evilness in Chillingsworth arises from the close relationship and Hester showing hatred towards him. And loves Dimmsdale. Slight evilness is also seen in Dimmsdale by Pearl as he refused to admit to being her father.

Another comparison can be made with the scaffold in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and room 101 in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. Both objects reserve the same purpose but the conclusions differ. Both the scaffold and room 101 are there to restrict the individual and enforces ideas on how things should be done. ‘Public way and wedging their not unsubstantial person, if occasions were, into the throng nearest to the scaffold at an execution’. This shows that the scaffold was seen a public performance and a way to humiliate and redeem Hester to admit to her illicit relationship. Room 101 is meant to serve the same purpose. Winston is brutally tortured until he learns to forget any opinion he holds and redeem himself so that he forgets Julia ad becomes like any other individual and learns to respect and like Big Brother.

Another similarity between ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is that restriction on speech and thought. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, the Thought Police is an agency that alters history in order to restrict thought and opinions of individuals. Similarly in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ the church enforces the protestant faith and has all individuals believe the same things and think alike.

The letter ‘A’ embroided on Hester’s chest, is meant to show her shame but instead shows how powerful Hester is and her identity. When the ‘A’ stands for adultery, society restricts the way Hester is seen. Everyone sees her as a sinner, and feel she had involved herself in a relationship that should not have started in the first place. By the end of the novel at Election Day, the Native Americans, make Hester as a person of importance and status. This letter is used by society for ideological enforcement. Similarly in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, the Big Brother and the party restrict any independent thoughts of individuals. There are signs that read ‘Big Brother is watching you’. The party also forces individuals to suppress their sexual desires, treating sex as merely a procreative duty whose end is the creation of a new party member. Hence in both novels due to restrictions on the mind there us a lack of relationships.

The main characters that carry out illicit relationships are Winston and Julia in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and Dimmsdale and Hester in ‘The Scarlet Letter’. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ Winston and Julia’s relationship is followed up from the start to the finish. Whereas in ‘The Scarlet letter’ se also know of the result of Hester and Dimmsdale’s relationship. A similarity between the two is that both are restricted on being open about their relationships. Winston is restricted due to Big Brother and the party and Dimmsdale is restricted because of his status in society. Both relationships end on a negative note as they come to a finish and do not extend. Winston becomes a part of society and faithful towards Big Brother whereas Hester finds independence and accepted by society.

The literacy devices used in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ differ. In ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’, the literacy device of doublethink is used. This is a device used by the party to control what individuals think by planting thoughts in them and making them believe everything that they say. In big rallies the new speaker will shift is diplomatic allegiance so that the nation will expect a certain topic discussed but really be taking part in a lecture to restrict thoughts. Ministries are set up through doublethink that is hypocritical due to their names. The Ministry of Love is in charge of the parties operation of torture and punishment. Hence it is clear to see why illicit relationships are not tolerated

Motifs and literacy devices in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ are very different to those in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. There major device use is the parallel between the town and the woods. The town represents civilisation and the woods represent freedom where no roles of society apply. There is also the motif of day and night. During the day light individuals are exposed to society and make them vulnerable to punishment. During night, all activities are concealed and enable individuals to take part in activities that are not tolerated during daytime. Also evocative names are used. Chillingworth reminds us of chill, as he is a cold and inhuman character. Dimmsdale represents a dim character. And the name Pearl represents valuable.

There are many symbols that represent relationships. The coil in the paperweight in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ represents the relationship between Julia and Winston. As the coil is tight it shows that Winston and Julia’s relationship is going well but at the end it smashes showing that their relationship is destroyed.

The forest in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and the golden country in ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ are symbolic as they represent freedom.

Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s relationship with Dimmsdale.

I have come to a conclusion that both novels ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and ‘The Scarlet Letter’ contain societies that are too attached to their history and have not been able to move on and accept the present and future. They are unable to adapt to current circumstances. Also I feel that relationships are not tolerated in both societies, as the key figures in both societies are unable to understand and interoperate he human mind. Hence if they are unable to intercept or handle the situations, they rather accept that it does not exist. Therefore the key figures have turned society into a one-way thought system where everything the key figures believe in is enforced on all individuals in society. This removes any individual that is more powerful than the key figure. I.e. the character of Hester. History is totally blanked out and the main aim is to make society last eternality.

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