Postmodernism of Globalization in Nathaniel Hawthorn's the Scarlet Letter and Young Goodman Brown
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International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences © 2013 Available online at www.irjabs.com ISSN 2251-838X / Vol, 7 (1): 1-5 Science Explorer Publications
Postmodernism of Globalization in Nathaniel Hawthorn's the Scarlet Letter and Young Goodman Brown
Abdolbaghy Rezaei Talarposhti
Assistant Professor of Golestan University, Gorgan, IRAN
Corresponding Author email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to express a certain notable aspect of how literature of the United State' writers like as Nathaniel Hawthorn is introduced, received and consumed throughout the world. It is tacitly trying to deal with the articulation of postmodernism of globalization in Hawthorn's the scarlet letter and Young Goodman Brown and what that analysis means to our conception of literary value. What is happening here are some deep and irreversible changes in the relation between literature and the world: profound changes in the aesthetic value of literary text and subsequent changes in its relation to the reader. What causes this is a trend, one might say, of Consumerism, but is not superficial, since it corresponds to the changes in the worldat large and neither does it seem in principle to concern specific countries. His novels, "The Scarlet Letter" and "Young Goodman Brown" figure on the Post- Modernism of Globalization (global) thematic concerns that are at the center of his novels, such as human depravity, religious doubt, secret guilt and spiritual isolation. Key words: Postmodernism, Globalization, Profound Changes, Literary Value, Aesthetic Value, Consumerism, human Depravity, Glorious isolation
INTRODUCTION
Nathaniel Hawthorn crafted a profound and complex works which have fascinated generations of readers with its portrayal of a self-deluded sinner and its ambiguous conclusion. It is typical of Hawthorn's fiction in their somber views of human nature. His portrayal of comprehensive sinfulness, irremovable stains, and deep darkness is at odds with what the world values and with what the world chooses to recognize as the human condition. What causes this is a trend, one might say of Consumerism, but it is not superficial, since it corresponds to the changes in the world system at large and neither does it seem in principle to concern specific countries. His novels, "The Scarlet Letter" and "Young Goodman Brown" figure on the Post- Modernism of Globalization (global) thematic concerns that are at the center of his novels, such as human depravity, religious doubt, secret guilt and spiritual isolation. What is happening in this study are some deep profound changes in the aesthetic of the Post- Modernism of Globalization as a cultural study in Hawthorn's "The Scarlet letter" and "Young Goodman Brown" and subsequent changes in their relations to the reader . In "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorn has ironically something, in terms of action, almost nothing happens because it is the very fact of multiple interpretations and the difficulty of achieving consensus. This story opens with an expectant crowd standing in front of a Boston prison in the early 1640s. When the prison door opens, a young woman named 'Hester Prynne' emerges, with a baby in her arms. The novel focuses primarily on how public condemnation and scorn affect the partners in sin- Hester Prynne, who refuses under pressure to name her paramour, and the Revenue Arthur Dimmesdale, who lacks the courage to identify himself as the father of Hester's child until guilt destroys his resistance. For her crime of adultery, to which both the baby and the letter attest, she must proceed to the scaffold and stand for judgment by her community. It really explores the theme of sin, along with its connection to knowledge and social order. So we see that this story offers to us a typical or even symbolic case for the literary changes that have taken place in the passage of postmodernism and also this is mysterious package in which the theme of Post- Modernism of Globalization is going to be detected. In "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorn suggests that as individual travel through life, personal views can alter which is shown through different genres within the story, whether such a view is moral or not, the choice is up to the individual. Most critics agree that 'Brown' is intended to be an everyman character in this story of lost Faith, his wife and faith. In the website, "Good and Evil in Young Goodman Brown" we see as an everyman character, the reader must assume that in Hawthorn's eyes that Brown's beliefs and actions must be Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 7 (1), 1-5, 2013 considered the average response to what is evil and good in this world. This theme continues to be felt by every generation to come. As a result, it is important that we analyze what it is that Hawthorn is presenting as the average. Because the pivotal point in the story is the Black Mass, it can be assumed that what everyman believes is most likely found before this important moment.
Human depravity, Religious doubt, Secret Guilt and Spiritual Isolation in "The Scarlet Letter" "The Scarlet letter" is a novel centering on the aftermath of an adulterous encounter in Puritan Boston between a respected clergyman and a beautiful young woman who bears his child. She is condemned to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin. This letter "A" stands as the most potent symbol, around which interpretation of the novel revolve. The novel also considers the vengeful reaction of Hester's husband and the rigid moral outlook of the Puritans, who forces Hester to wear a scarlet letter identifying her as an adulterous. The author does not excuse the sin, but he sympathizes with the sinners. This attitude shows the globalism of the author's effects on the development of his theme in the various feedbacks in the information age. So it is considered to be best because it gets its international reputation . Edgar Allan Poe claims: "The whole story invites the readers to consider the whole story as a symbol that constitutes one of the most enigmatic elements of American literature". Because, to me, at one interpretive pole the "A" stands for adultery and sin, and the novel is the story of individual punishment and reconciliation. At another pole it stands for America and allegory, and the story suggest national sin and its human cost. Yet possibly, the most convincing reading, taking account of all others, sees the "A" as a symbol of ambiguity, i.e. the secret guilt, the very fact of multiple interpretations. Therefore it emphasizes that all knowledge and interpretations are to be seen as 'constructed' within self- contained system of understanding. This globalized activity has promoted increasing interaction between this national culture and literature. And this is the major core of Post- Modernism of Globalization. Hester will be formally, officially set apart from the rest of society; yet the opening chapters imply that, even before her acquisition of the scarlet letter, she had always been unique and globalized one. She confronts her 'realities' and discovers a new self that does not fit with her old conceptions of herself. In the scene, when Hester 'embraces her daughter' implies a profound separation of her current situation from the ideal of that ideological system. As Stephanie Carrez presents: "Hester, as an allegory of sin, loses her individuality and her only role becomes that of directly representing sin". Indeed, Hester becomes a scapegoat, and the public nature of her punishment makes her an object for voyeuristic contemplation. Rather than seeing their own potential sinfulness in Hester, the townspeople see her as someone whose transgressions outweigh and obliterate their own errors. From now on, Hester will spend 'outside' not 'in', i.e. across the nations. We see that the meaning is freed from domestic limitation because her individuality only serves to illustrate the general idea, woman's frailty and sinful passion . Jessica Setzer states: "The basis behind Pearl and Dimmesdale's struggle rests in the Puritan's interpretation of society and nature. He illustrates the first liberty is based in nature. It is based on both good and evil actions and is inconsistent with society's laws". We see in "Scarlet Letter", Pearl, and Hester's daughter is identified as a battle of nature against isolated society but really she likes to live in a globalized society. For interpretation I say that there are three symbols; the rose bush, the prison and the cemetery. The prison and cemetery are present in any society as a pure reality and there would be no other comment on it and therefore they are representative of social order and this is a globalized theme. In contrast, the rose bush symbolizes the wilderness, i.e. no fixed social order, struggling to withstand the throes of society. There would be multiple possibilities for the significance of the rose bush near the prison door, as its survival in the author's manuscript. In the end, we understand that he rejects all of its possible meanings refusing to give the rose bush a definitive interpretation. But we see that Hester is involved in her internal conflict because she'd like to be freed from any restriction of the society (the depravity of society) in order to have her interpretation of the reality across the nations . The group of men approaching Hester and Pearl include Governor Bellingham, the Reverend John Wilson, the Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, who has been living in Boston as Dimmesdale's friend and personal physician. So this is the depravity of the society in which Hester and Pearl live. For example Michael J. Cumming says: "Because of their strict moral codes, the puritans were ever on the lookout for fantastic influence and, unfortunately, sometimes saw evil where none existed". In the scene that the governor, shocked at Pearl's vain and immodest costume, challenges Hester's fitness to raise the child in a Christian way. He asks Reverend Mr. Wilson to test Pearl's knowledge of the Catechism. In answer to the very first question-"Who made thee? - Pearl replies that she was not made, but that she was "Plucked… off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door". She stands in contrast to the stiffness of Puritan society. We see Pearl is the scarlet letter endowed with life and Hester has worked to create an analogy between the object of her [Hester] affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture. This may reinforce the contradictory nature of both the letter and Pearl, for just as Hester both loves and feels burdened by Pearl, her thought regarding the scarlet letter seem also to contain a touch of fondness. The sin itself was both a guilty act and an act of
2 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 7 (1), 1-5, 2013 affection, a problematic combination of love and evil. The letter and the child also hold a dual meaning for the town fathers. They understand that both child and badge function as reminders of sin and as protections against further sin. So it seems Pearl has saved her mother from Satan's temptations. These interpretations are so called deconstructive realism, where every detail is too vivid to have definite meaning. And this is the major core of postmodernism because this is the general notion accepted by people 'in' and 'outside' nations. Dimmesdale, a young minister who is renowned for his eloquence, religious fervor, and theological expertise, efforts to get Hester to reveal her lover's identity involves a set of confusing instructions about following her conscience and exposing her lover in order to save his soul. But at the end, Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the townspeople on the scaffold that had, seven years earlier, been the scene of Hester's public shaming. As Tony Annicone presents that Dimmesdale made an impetus for Hester to create a new life of repentance and dignity by doing good deeds in the community. So Dimmesdale finds and introduces peace through confession to the people 'in' and 'out' of the countries. In this way, 'the scarlet letter' comes to resemble a detective story; things have meaning only in the context of later information. The larger implication of such a structure is that lives have meaning only as a whole, and that an individual event (Hester's adultery, for example) must be examined in a framework larger than that allowed by the categorical rules of religion. This notion returns the reader to the book's general theme of whether it is ethically right to judge others. This attitude shows the global nature of Hawthorn's novels and so this is Post- Modernism of Globalization .
Human depravity, Religious doubt, Secret Guilt and Spiritual Isolation in "Young Goodman Brown" Melissa Howard declares that Brown was intended to be everyman character within the story and as an everyman character; the reader must assume that in Hawthorn's eye Brown's beliefs and actions must be considered the average response to what is evil and good in this world. So the name of 'Young Goodman Brown' symbolizes how influence manipulates individuals throughout life. In the sentence of the original story: "Young Goodman Brown come forth at sunset, into the street of Salem village, but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife"; several symbols of influence appear. Good Youngman Brown's name suggests that he is an individual free from influence. This means the tendentious tapering of nationality and national boundaries and the corresponding globalization. So there are many overlapping areas of influence continues to exert an influence on the whole. This is the striking core of Post- Modernism of Globalization in Literature . " Young Goodman brown" has a triptych structure. In the first portion, the main character is seen in a detached state from his normal environment. The second part takes the character to an unfamiliar surrounding with bizarre happenings. The last chapter returns the character to his normal surroundings but in an altered state where the protagonist returns to a different relationship between himself and society. To me, this organization has two effects which are a fast flow into past and present that emphasizes the great space between public and private histories and that history is good for individual. As Walter Shear declares: "As Goodman Brown leaves Faith, he becomes an individual psychologically. His departure from his wife and life is not only a symbolic loss of faith, but it is also his leaving behind conventional belief. In the woods, his religion is absent; therefore the familiar woods are nightmarish". Here Brown represents the unstable Puritanism as it decreases in its religious conviction and becomes somewhat hypocritical. His revulsion of his wife and society represents his own need to psychologically repress his reasons for taking the first step into the forest. Hawthorn says in the story: "Too far! Too far! Exclaimed the good man, unconsciously resuming his work. My father never went into the woods such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs; …" We see that his revulsion is subconscious and in such an occasion this would be a global behavior. To me, this is the process of marketing of information products that promote similar cultural interest and understanding across national borders. These narrations construct a reality from within them and impose this on the world in which we live. This is a global meaning . As Arthur Coleman illustrates that Young Goodman Brown, in general, works as both reality and fantasy because of the distressed mind of Brown. And Brown learns to fear everyman because he cannot trust in the redemption of others and the resulting ability to do well. Therefore he was led to keep the wondrous events within a sensible realm. In the scene of the story the narrator says; "… Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree for support; being ready to be faint and …he looked up to the sky, doubting whether there really was a heaven above him…" Accordingly, he lives a life of fear and paranoia dies lonely and bitter. This is what is really happening in the globalization of literature because postmodernism of globalization believes that evolution is hard, hard and bleak. This is also a great lesson to the whole people throughout the worlds . In the scene of the story; "when the minster spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truth of our religion, and … often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith…". We see that its evident subject matter is the mystery of subconscious, or consciousness. As Elizabeth Joan Easterly declares: "By not crying or realizing his inner emotions, Brown cannot progress morally". And also Wildred L. Guerin presents: "In clinical terms, Young Goodman Brown suffers from a failure of personality integration. He has been stunted in his psychological
3 Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 7 (1), 1-5, 2013 growth (individuation) because he is not able to confront his shadow and assimilate it into his consciousness". These interpretations show that Brown is going to be a changed man after his experience in the woods. But he fails to test his moral and spiritual being; therefore he cannot progress spiritually because of the different occasions. He also tends to promote an additional interchange of cultural behavior and literature in order to achieve a common culture or literature across the nations and in consequence this would be considered as a cultural study which signifies as Post- Modernism of Globalization . In Hawthorn's Goodman Brown the main characters enter natural or Edenic settings only to meet with evil forces. In the scene; " wickedness or not, said the traveler with the twisted staff, I have a very general acquaintance here in New England… can this be so? Cried Goodman Brown, with a stare of amazement at his disturbed companion, how beit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council; they have their own ways and are no rule of that good old man like me, but, were I to go on with thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our minister, at Salem village?". Charles E. Bressler's declares that the author is going to present the secret that Brown should learn to live side by side in a pluralistic society, learning each other while celebrating their differences. This is a collage meaning of postmodernism of literature which is always changing. Here we also understand that Goodman Brown accepts he is not capable of knowing which one is evil or good. The woods were once the Garden of Eden but have since been contaminated by the serpent (the old man) that is now in control of the wilderness. He is in doubt. These imaginations critically shape the processes through which globalization comes to be happened. As John S. Hardt declares: "Paradisiacal Skepticism or a retreat from the Paradisiacal ideal with recognition of limits in human knowledge". Both the narrator and Brown have limited knowledge in that neither can decipher whether the witches communion was real or imagined". This is, in effect, a significant tenet in Post- Modernism of Globalization which is associated with 'Metaphysics of Meaning', i.e. a new interpretation of the object beyond of the physics. This is considered as a worldly overview. At the end of the story, the narrator says: "Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? Be it so if you will; but, alas! It was a dream of an evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the might of that fearful dream". To me, Hawthorn is going to generalize two dimensions: Globalizing space (fantastic and eerie setting) and animus; a particular and new implication and meaning (subconscious reality). As Nina Baym states: "Hawthorn's men are obsessed with females but the only way they can make any connection with women is through fantasy". Therefore Young Goodman Brown works as both reality and fantasy because of the distressed mind of Brown which could lead him to imagine bizarre events. This matter exemplifies the postmodern and global condition of literary reception.
CONCLUSION
To conclude this study, one of the most important reasons that Nathaniel Hawthorn is so well known is the way he leaves the novel open to be interpreted several different ways by his abundant use of mystic symbol. The multiplication of possible interpretations is at the same time an artistic necessity and a metaphysical and social threat, and this constitutes one of the keystones of Hawthorn's ambiguity. So no definite truth can be established, and truth itself becomes an uncertain concept. He describes the purpose of the novels when he says, "Be true! Be true! Be true! Shows freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred. This theme is beneficial because it deals with alienation, sin, punishment, and guilt, emotions that will continue to be felt by every generation to come. So this is international idea and becomes the major core of Post- Modernism of Globalization .
REFERENCES
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