Part one of term paper
’S THE SCARLET LETTER Since the beginning of time, man has gathered himself in communities in order to better facilitate the needs and interests of individuals. As institutions developed to govern these communities, the idea of a “collective good” emerged. Central to the idea of a collective good is the responsibility of the community ...

Part two of term paper
... characters of the work and an understanding of the underlying ideas of Hawthorne, a view on national morality emerges. Hawthorne criticizes the fundamentalist Puritan characters, particularly Dimmesdale, by showing their hypocrisy and displaying the failures of Puritans and their form of a national morality. The treatment of the outcast Hester reveals Hawthorne’s desire to form a national morality founded on individual accountability and Transcendentalist beliefs. Before disclosing his noti ...