In this modern society, I don't believe there are any groups, at least none that I have heard of, that are as strict as the Puritans were. With that being said, there can be some similarities between the old Puritan ways and our society nowadays.
In the Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne gets shunned and publicly humiliated because of an act against the law. She had to stand on a scaffolding for hours, while people stared at her, and she also has to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest to show everyone of her sin. This still happens in our society today, even though it isn't for the same reasons. Hester committed adultery, which back then was one of the worst things you could have done. If someone today were to do something bad, they would also be publicly humiliated. Even though they wouldn't have to stand on a scaffolding, everyone would know what they did because the media makes it so that everyone knows.
For Hester, the scarlet letter follows her where ever she goes. For the people who may do something bad, their "scarlet letter" follows them around, too. They aren't able to apply for jobs or to be accepted in society because of what they did. So in this way, I believe our overall society is like that of the Puritans. We still aren't able to accept people for their mistakes.
I thought this was a good comparison. However, couldn't you compare the strictness of the puritans to maybe celebrity, church authorities and high officials' reputations that they have to maintain? Maybe you could deeper analyze one of those or something similar next time. I don't disagree with anything you said, however.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said, WE are the modern day Puritans since we are the ones that judge those who do something bad in a harsh way. Our laws today aren't based off of our religion but most of us do have the same mindsets that the Puritans had.
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