To the Kind People Who Blame Themselves: The Novel 'The Scarlet Letter' That Says NO to 'Is My Life Over If I Fail?'

I'm Nyankichi, a literary cat who's a bit socially awkward. Welcome to my attic literary salon!

It seems that many of the readers who come to my blog are kind people who tend to blame themselves. To such people, I really want you to read "The Scarlet Letter" (by Hawthorne, translated by Toshio Yagi, Iwanami Bunko).

In the strict Puritan society of the 17th century, the heroine, who becomes pregnant with a child out of wedlock, is thoroughly ostracized. Adultery is not a good thing, but the bashing is so severe that you wonder if they really have to go that far.

The current Japanese social media society is similar, isn't it? People who question the "rules" decided by everyone are crushed, so it's a painful world for self-reflective people.

But, if you read The Scarlet Letter (Original title: The Scarlet Letter, A Romance), you will be saved by the strength of the heroine who rises from adversity, and you will feel energized!

The Fighting Madonna and Child, the heroine's spirit is amazing

Nyankichi: Mr. Hawthorne, please have some vegetable soup. I heard your wife, Sophia, was health-conscious and good at simple cooking.
Mr. Hawthorne: Thank you. The scent of thyme is nice.
Nyankichi: I'm really happy today. I love "The Scarlet Letter." Dear readers, please take a look at "The Scarlet Letter" painted by Hugues Merle, a French painter who was a master of female portraits.
Mr. Hawthorne: This painting is good, isn't it? I like it too.
Nyankichi: It's like a fighting Madonna and Child. The look on the face of the heroine, Hester, holding her illegitimate child Pearl! The spirit of an American woman living in a harsh frontier comes through.

Synopsis

🔸 A work from 1850. Set in 17th-century Boston, a society of strict commandments and discrimination against women. Hester Prynne gives birth to an illegitimate child but absolutely refuses to reveal who the father is. Hester is forced to wear clothes with the letter A (adultery) sewn onto her chest, is exposed to public shame, insulted by being told "it would normally be the death penalty," pelted with stones, and ostracized by the village.
🔸 Hester makes a living through sewing and raises her daughter, Pearl. She shares her meager belongings with the poor, and when a plague breaks out, she nurses the sick like a nun. Eventually, the villagers discover in Hester—who faces her sin, makes amends, becomes independent, and gives to others—the American philosophy of self-reliance and a generous, noble soul.

The Extremely Strict Puritans: What is Sin?

Nyankichi: They say that "shame punishment," which required wearing clothes with the letter A sewn on them, actually existed. That's scary.
Mr. Hawthorne: That's right. Legalism was rampant. If you didn't go to church on Sunday, you were fined; if a wife didn't obey her husband, she was punished; premarital sex was punished by whipping; and sinners were thoroughly exposed to public shame. It was a surveillance society.

Nyankichi: I don't know if it's good or bad, but it was an era of "follow the village rules." In the midst of that, Hester asks, What is sin?. And she thinks that it is something judged by God and one's own conscience.
Mr. Hawthorne: That is the origin of the Puritans, after all.

Nyankichi: Hester doesn't blame others. Even though she shares her few belongings with the poor, she is ostracized so severely that the people she helps mock her. She has a good sense for sewing, and her ceremonial embroidery becomes very popular. She becomes an economically independent single mother.

American Philosophy, American Thought, American Loneliness

Nyankichi: "The Scarlet Letter" is the "womb of American literature" that has been loved by great writers throughout history. Melville, the author of "Moby-Dick," was a huge, huge, huge fan of Mr. Hawthorne, and he dedicated "Moby-Dick" to Mr. Hawthorne "in token of my admiration for his genius."

● The power of the female figure of Hester
● The symbolism of the American spirit (individual, sin, loneliness)
● The depth of psychological description that sees hope from a dark abyss
● The brilliance of the symbolism of the letter A

The philosophy of "The Scarlet Letter" is America itself.

When you feel like you're losing to collectivism, remember Hester

Nyankichi: In both Japanese social media and real society, there are loud voices insisting that 'there is only one right way' to do things, meow.
Mr. Hawthorne: It seems Japan has something called the 'crime of not reading the air,' doesn't it.
Nyankichi: That's right, meow.

• Peer pressure

• Character assassination of those who fail

• Prioritizing the group over the individual

But meow. Is there anyone who never fails, or anyone who never commits a sin, meow?

Mr. Hawthorne: Humans are weak. And I questioned whether the 'rules' decided by those weak humans are truly always 'right.'
Nyankichi: Every time I am accused of the 'crime of not reading the air,' I remember Hester, meow. Of course, I take others' opinions into great account, and I follow the law, meow. Being selfish is not okay, meow. And yet, I decide my own path according to my own conscience, meow.

America's greatest 'romance'

Nyankichi: The subtitle is 'A Romance.' I think this work is America's greatest romance, meow. Rather than a love drama, it is the essence of passion held by a noble soul. What a pure beauty this passion has, meow.

This scene where Hester encourages her lover, who is weakening from a guilty conscience, is one of the highlights of American literature, meow.

What does A signify?

Nyankichi: Hester's A is no longer the A for adultery, meow.
Mr. Hawthorne: It changes to Angel, or Able.
Nyankichi: This wonderful symbolism of the letter A is something that the king of symbolism, Baudelaire, also highly praised, meow.
Mr. Hawthorne: What do you think the A stands for?
Nyankichi: I agree 100% with the translator, Mr. Yagi, meow! It's the A for American Woman, meow!

Don't give up at the preface, meow.

Nyankichi: Mr. Hawthorne has returned to Sophia in heaven, meow. 'The Scarlet Letter' is a masterpiece often read in American high school classes, and once you read it, the emotional impact will last a lifetime, so please give it a read, meow!

The famous preface, 'The Custom-House,' was written by Hawthorne while he was working as a customs official, using all his literary skill, so it might be a bit difficult to understand, meow. Don't give up at the preface, meow; you can start reading from the scene where Hester is put in the pillory, meow!