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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Thank you Sondra K and your sin class you are in. Making me desire to re-read this.
I enjoyed this story less than I remember upon my most recent read, but it's still one of the funnier American short stories to me. Something about Puritan's digging their own graves with their guilt really just does it for me.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Heavy-handed with its symbolism in regards to faith, good/evil, the devil, and hypocrisy but not a bad story.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“It was strange to see, that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints.”
--------------------
I had the strangest sense of deja-vu while reading this.
Although it turns out this was not due to some creepy devilish trick, but (more predictably) because I had previously read this story in a collection called American Midnight a few years ago. And I must say, I enjoyed it now for all the same reasons as I had enjoyed it then.
Hawthorne builds a great sense of foreboding in the space of a few pages, creating a very creepy and enjoyable experience despite the very heavy handed religious symbolism (Is it still symbolism if it is shoved into your eyeballs? I mean, a man who reluctantly takes a midnight strollalongside the devil in darkness, worried about leaving his wife Faith at home. Something doesn’t feel so subtle here.)
Temptation of straying from the good. Guiltily, but knowingly choosing the devil despite the protestations. And criticizing the hypocrisy of the society while mocking the performative piousness all in the same breath. We got it all in this gem of a story.
It’s entertaining, it is atmospheric, and it is surprisingly easy to read considering when it was written. Very nice all around.
Short and dark. A prime example of a romantic work, and of Nathaniel Hawthorne's criticism of the Puritan lifestyle. Compliments the Scarlet Letter well.
