'How To Read Literature Like A Professor' By Thomas Foster
Heart Problems Within chapter 23 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster discusses the in-depth reasons authors use heart complications in novels and the meaning it can add to a story. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these various heart techniques that Foster talks about to further emphasize character’s personalities and guilt. Guilt is an emotion Hawthorne used to cause pains within Reverend Dimmesdale. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale is seen as the healthy young reverend; however, as the guilt of his adulterous sin begins to eat at him his health begins to decline. Hawthorne first begins to foreshadow a heart problem with Dimmesdale, by having him constantly place his hand over his chest.
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As, Foster said in his novel, “the heart is…the symbolic repository of emotion”, therefore, Hester is constantly viewing the embroidered “A” as a look into herself. She believes the symbol, represents who she is and what she has become, rather than let the sign destroy her heart, she has allowed it to let her grow as a person. The author put in various heart related marks, such as when people stare at the sign on her bosom, Hester can feel her “chest burning” to show that by looking at the mark people are seeing into her heart, or truly seeing her for what she is. By including the “A” symbol directly on Hester’s heart as well as “burning” of the heart, Hawthorne, shows the importance of Hester’s adultery to the novel, similar to how he showed Dimmesdale’s. While both adulterers had symbol’s related to their heart, the author used them in different way to signify different aspects of each character. Nathaniel Hawthorne used Dimmesdale’s growing heart problems to show how his secret adultery was eating him through guilt and deteriorating him. However, he used a symbol on Hester’s heart as a constant reminder of how she grew from the adultery and became a better person because of it. In both situations the author used the heart “diseases” as “more than just a heart disease” as Foster discussed; he
As, Foster said in his novel, “the heart is…the symbolic repository of emotion”, therefore, Hester is constantly viewing the embroidered “A” as a look into herself. She believes the symbol, represents who she is and what she has become, rather than let the sign destroy her heart, she has allowed it to let her grow as a person. The author put in various heart related marks, such as when people stare at the sign on her bosom, Hester can feel her “chest burning” to show that by looking at the mark people are seeing into her heart, or truly seeing her for what she is. By including the “A” symbol directly on Hester’s heart as well as “burning” of the heart, Hawthorne, shows the importance of Hester’s adultery to the novel, similar to how he showed Dimmesdale’s. While both adulterers had symbol’s related to their heart, the author used them in different way to signify different aspects of each character. Nathaniel Hawthorne used Dimmesdale’s growing heart problems to show how his secret adultery was eating him through guilt and deteriorating him. However, he used a symbol on Hester’s heart as a constant reminder of how she grew from the adultery and became a better person because of it. In both situations the author used the heart “diseases” as “more than just a heart disease” as Foster discussed; he