Sin, Knowledge, and the Human Condition

Sin and knowledge are linked in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible
begins with the story of Adam and Eve, who were e!elled from the "arden
of Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a result
of their knowledge, Adam and Eve are made aware of their humanness,
that whi#h se!arates them from the divine and from other #reatures. $n#e
e!elled from the "arden of Eden, they are for#ed to toil and to !ro#reate%
two &labors' that seem to de(ne the human #ondition. The e!erien#e of
)ester and *immesdale re#alls the story of Adam and Eve be#ause, in both
#ases, sin results in e!ulsion and su+ering. But it also results in knowledge
%s!e#i(#ally, in knowledge of what it means to be human. ,or )ester, the
s#arlet letter fun#tions as &her !ass!ort into regions where other women
dared not tread,' leading her to &s!e#ulate' about her so#iety and herself
more &boldly' than anyone else in -ew England. As for *immesdale, the
&burden' of his sin gives him &sym!athies so intimate with the sinful
brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrate.s/ in unison with theirs.'
)is elo0uent and !owerful sermons derive from this sense of em!athy.
)ester and *immesdale #ontem!late their own sinfulness on a daily basis
and try to re#on#ile it with their lived e!erien#es. The 1uritan elders, on
the other hand, insist on seeing earthly e!erien#e as merely an obsta#le
on the !ath to heaven. Thus, they view sin as a threat to the #ommunity
that should be !unished and su!!ressed. Their answer to )ester2s sin is to
ostra#i3e her. 4et, 1uritan so#iety is stagnant, while )ester and
*immesdale2s e!erien#e shows that a state of sinfulness #an lead to
!ersonal growth, sym!athy, and understanding of others. 1aradoi#ally,
these 0ualities are shown to be in#om!atible with a state of !urity.
Identity and Society
After )ester is !ubli#ly shamed and for#ed by the !eo!le of Boston to wear
a badge of humiliation, her unwillingness to leave the town may seem
!u33ling. She is not !hysi#ally im!risoned, and leaving the 5assa#husetts
Bay Colony would allow her to remove the s#arlet letter and resume a
normal life. Sur!risingly, )ester rea#ts with dismay when Chillingworth tells
her that the town fathers are #onsidering letting her remove the letter.
)ester2s behavior is !remised on her desire to determine her own identity
rather than to allow others to determine it for her. To her, running away or
removing the letter would be an a#knowledgment of so#iety2s !ower over
her6 she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and
something from whi#h she desires to es#a!e. 7nstead, )ester stays,
re(guring the s#arlet letter as a symbol of her own e!erien#es and
#hara#ter. )er !ast sin is a !art of who she is8 to !retend that it never
ha!!ened would mean denying a !art of herself. Thus, )ester very
determinedly integrates her sin into her life.
*immesdale also struggles against a so#ially determined identity. As the
#ommunity2s minister, he is more symbol than human being. E#e!t for
Chillingworth, those around the minister willfully ignore his obvious anguish,
misinter!reting it as holiness. 9nfortunately, *immesdale never fully
re#ogni3es the truth of what )ester has learned6 that individuality and
strength are gained by 0uiet self-assertion and by a re#on(guration, not a
re:e#tion, of one2s assigned identity.
Symbols
Symbols are objects, characters, fgures, and colors used to represent
abstract ideas or concepts.
The Scarlet Letter
The s#arlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it be#omes
a !owerful symbol of identity to )ester. The letter2s meaning shifts as time
!asses. $riginally intended to mark )ester as an adulterer, the &A'
eventually #omes to stand for &Able.' ,inally, it be#omes indeterminate6 the
-ative Ameri#ans who #ome to wat#h the Ele#tion *ay !ageant think it
marks her as a !erson of im!ortan#e and status. ;ike 1earl, the letter
fun#tions as a !hysi#al reminder of )ester2s a+air with *immesdale. But,
#om!ared with a human #hild, the letter seems insigni(#ant, and thus hel!s
to !oint out the ultimate meaninglessness of the #ommunity2s system of
:udgment and !unishment. The #hild has been sent from "od, or at least
from nature, but the letter is merely a human #ontrivan#e. Additionally, the
instability of the letter2s a!!arent meaning #alls into 0uestion so#iety2s
ability to use symbols for ideologi#al reinfor#ement. 5ore often than not, a
symbol be#omes a fo#al !oint for #riti#al analysis and debate.
pearl
Although 1earl is a #om!le #hara#ter, her !rimary fun#tion within the novel
is as a symbol. 1earl is a sort of living version of her mother2s s#arlet letter.
She is the !hysi#al #onse0uen#e of seual sin and the indi#ator of a
transgression. 4et, even as a reminder of )ester2s &sin,' 1earl is more than
a mere !unishment to her mother6 she is also a blessing. She re!resents
not only &sin' but also the vital s!irit and !assion that engendered that sin.
Thus, 1earl2s eisten#e gives her mother reason to live, bolstering her
s!irits when she is tem!ted to give u!. 7t is only after *immesdale is
revealed to be 1earl2s father that 1earl #an be#ome fully &human.' 9ntil
then, she fun#tions in a symboli# #a!a#ity as the reminder of an unsolved
mystery.
"lass menagerie
The Difculty of ccepting !eality
Among the most !rominent and urgent themes of The Glass Menagerie is
the di<#ulty the #hara#ters have in a##e!ting and relating to reality. Ea#h
member of the =ing(eld family is unable to over#ome this di<#ulty, and
ea#h, as a result, withdraws into a !rivate world of illusion where he or she
(nds the #omfort and meaning that the real world does not seem to o+er.
$f the three =ing(elds, reality has by far the weakest gras! on ;aura. The
!rivate world in whi#h she lives is !o!ulated by glass animals%ob:e#ts that,
like ;aura2s inner life, are in#redibly fan#iful and dangerously deli#ate.
9nlike his sister, Tom is #a!able of fun#tioning in the real world, as we see
in his holding down a :ob and talking to strangers. But, in the end, he has
no more motivation than ;aura does to !ursue !rofessional su##ess,
romanti# relationshi!s, or even ordinary friendshi!s, and he !refers to
retreat into the fantasies !rovided by literature and movies and the stu!or
!rovided by drunkenness. Amanda2s relationshi! to reality is the most
#om!li#ated in the !lay. 9nlike her #hildren, she is !artial to real-world
values and longs for so#ial and (nan#ial su##ess. 4et her atta#hment to
these values is ea#tly what !revents her from !er#eiving a number of
truths about her life. She #annot a##e!t that she is or should be anything
other than the !am!ered belle she was brought u! to be, that ;aura is
!e#uliar, that Tom is not a budding businessman, and that she herself might
be in some ways res!onsible for the sorrows and >aws of her #hildren.
Amanda2s retreat into illusion is in many ways more !atheti# than her
#hildren2s, be#ause it is not a willful imaginative #onstru#tion but a wistful
distortion of reality.
Although the =ing(elds are distinguished and bound together by the weak
relationshi!s they maintain with reality, the illusions to whi#h they su##umb
are not merely familial 0uirks. The outside world is :ust as sus#e!tible to
illusion as the =ing(elds. The young !eo!le at the 1aradise *an#e )all
walt3 under the short-lived illusion #reated by a glass ball%another version
of ;aura2s glass animals. Tom o!ines to Jim that the other viewers at the
movies he attends are substituting on-s#reen adventure for real-life
adventure, (nding ful(llment in illusion rather than real life. Even Jim, who
re!resents the &world of reality,' is banking his future on !ubli# s!eaking
and the television and radio industries%all of whi#h are means for the
#reation of illusions and the !ersuasion of others that these illusions are
true. The Glass Menagerie identi(es the #on0uest of reality by illusion as a
huge and growing as!e#t of the human #ondition in its time.
The "ire #scape
;eading out of the =ing(elds2 a!artment is a (re es#a!e with a
landing. The (re es#a!e re!resents ea#tly what its name im!lies6 an
es#a!e from the (res of frustration and dysfun#tion that rage in the
=ing(eld household. ;aura sli!s on the (re es#a!e in S#ene ,our,
highlighting her inability to es#a!e from her situation. Tom, on the
other hand, fre0uently ste!s out onto the landing to smoke,
anti#i!ating his eventual getaway.
Salesman
The merican Dream
=illy believes wholeheartedly in what he #onsiders the !romise of the
Ameri#an *ream%that a &well liked' and &!ersonally attra#tive' man in
business will indubitably and deservedly a#0uire the material #omforts
o+ered by modern Ameri#an life. $ddly, his (ation with the su!er(#ial
0ualities of attra#tiveness and likeability is at odds with a more gritty, more
rewarding understanding of the Ameri#an *ream that identi(es hard work
without #om!laint as the key to su##ess. =illy2s inter!retation of likeability
is su!er(#ial%he #hildishly dislikes Bernard be#ause he #onsiders Bernard a
nerd. =illy2s blind faith in his stunted version of the Ameri#an *ream leads
to his ra!id !sy#hologi#al de#line when he is unable to a##e!t the dis!arity
between the *ream and his own life.
Seeds re!resent for =illy the o!!ortunity to !rove the worth of his labor,
both as a salesman and a father. )is des!erate, no#turnal attem!t to grow
vegetables signi(es his shame about barely being able to !ut food on the
table and having nothing to leave his #hildren when he !asses. =illy feels
that he has worked hard but fears that he will not be able to hel! his
o+s!ring any more than his own abandoning father hel!ed him. The seeds
also symboli3e =illy2s sense of failure with Bi+. *es!ite the Ameri#an
*ream2s formula for su##ess, whi#h =illy #onsiders infallible, =illy2s e+orts
to #ultivate and nurture Bi+ went awry. ?eali3ing that his all-Ameri#an
football star has turned into a la3y bum, =illy takes Bi+2s failure and la#k of
ambition as a re>e#tion of his abilities as a father.
5ango street
Trees
Es!eran3a e!resses res!e#t and admiration for trees throughout The
House on Mango Street, and her a+e#tion stems from her identi(#ation with
their a!!earan#e, resilien#e, and inde!enden#e. 7n &,our Skinny Trees,'
Es!eran3a !ersoni(es the trees in her front yard, saying she and they
understand ea#h other, even that they tea#h her things. She relates to the
trees be#ause they don2t seem to belong in the neighborhood and be#ause
they !ersevere des!ite the #on#rete that tries to kee! them in the ground.
Es!eran3a herself does not seem to belong, and she !lans to !ersevere
des!ite the obsta#les !osed by her !oor neighborhood. Es!eran3a views the
trees almost as a re>e#tion of herself, #om!aring her own skinny ne#k and
!ointy elbows to the tree2s s!indly bran#hes.
The tree in 5eme $rti32s ba#kyard has !arti#ular resonan#e for Es!eran3a.
Even though the tree eventually turns out to be dangerous, sin#e 5eme
:um!s out of it and breaks both of his arms, Es!eran3a #laims it is the most
memorable !art of 5eme2s ba#kyard. She !oints out that the tree is full of
s0uirrels and that it dwarfs her neighborhood in age and si3e. This tree has
>ourished even more than the trees in her front yard have, again without
anybody doing mu#h to hel! it. 5eme2s hardy tree was !robably on#e like
the elms in Es!eran3a2s yard, whi#h suggests that Es!eran3a will !erha!s
be able to grow into a strong and inde!endent woman des!ite the setba#ks
in her (rst year on 5ango Street.
Ellen foster
Ellen must #ontinually over#ome terrible hardshi!%seual abuse, al#oholism,
negle#t, !overty, #ruelty. Throughout it all, however, she is determined to endure
and knows that she deserves better than the horri(# #ir#umstan#es under whi#h
she is su+ering. This determination strengthens Ellen2s will to endure and
undoubtedly !ulls her through her grief and misery, as she knows only she alone
#an hel! herself8 though others may have tried, no one has su##eeded. Ellen
eventually reali3es that it has not been she, but Starletta, who has had the
&hardest row to hoe,' as she is a bla#k girl who is growing u! in a highly ra#ist
#ommunity. Ellen gradually be#omes #ons#ious of this, es!e#ially when she
re#ogni3es that Starletta will not be able to date the white boy on whom she has a
#rush, solely be#ause of her skin #olor.