Scarlet Letter post #1

My American Literature "free read" for this quarter is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  The setting is the mid-17th century (1642 to 1649) in a Puritan colony on the edge of an untamed forest still inhabited by Native Americans.  Sounds like classic American Literature to me.  Published in 1850, this 150 year old story is famous, at least I have heard of it and seen clips of movies, and the plot seems pretty simple, so I am excited to finally read it and see what all the hype is really about.  I am only a few chapters into it and it starts right into the essence of what, when, where and who.  No mystery about why it's entitled the Scarlett Letter.  I like that.  Although the sentences are flowery and filled with vocabulary words, you can't get lost or confused.  That's another plus for me when it comes to reading.  It has my attention and I am not lost.  This says a lot for me, as I have never been much of reader.  But so far, I am all in.

The Introduction states that this story is timeless and the characters face the same moral struggles as readers in the 21st century.  I don't think that is true from how I see America today.  If Miley Cyrus is any indication, America has accepted just about every possible behavior out there.  In fact, today's society thrives and begs for sensational stories and glamorizes issues of morality; personal freedom; and public life.  The thought of someone being demonized and punished in front of their community seems so far from reality.  Gay love, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse are all part of everyday life.  Acceptance is here.  I can't think of anything or anyone who would be jailed, branded, humiliated, demonized, and abandoned like Hester Prynne.  Rather society would put her on the cover of magazines and You Tube and make money selling her story.  Her Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts would be liked and followed.  There would probably be a marketing opportunity to sell crimson A's with gold threading.  University of Alabama would love it.  

I just don't envision that the modern reader is going to see themselves as a victim anymore.  Sin and guilt are yesterday's worries.  Rather, I see Hester's story as the way it was and no longer is.  But I think this is good thing, to a certain extent.  Seems our society could use a lesson on morality and less personal freedom, but then there would be an outcry of rights.