Most Artistic Novel by Maria

Most Artistic Novel by Maria - October 2020 Scholarship Essay

It's pretty difficult for a book to completely grab my attention, finding a book that I genuinely look forward to reading and struggle to put down everyday is very rare. I believe a big part of that is because of the generation I live in, there is so much technology now and so many different ways to pass time and keep yourself entertained, you know, with cell phones, social media, and millions of short videos all over the internet. Somehow I came across the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and it really was a surreal experience.
Growing up I was never a big reader, however, in middle school I did discover that my favorite genre to read is historical fiction, it's realistic historic society but with a twist, they're fictional stories that for all we knew, could've actually happened to someone back in the day. The Scarlet Letter falls into the category and is my favorite novel I've read so far this year, it especially grabbed my attention because of how dramatic it is. There was crime, religion, adultery, and baby daddy issues all in one. Not to disregard possible witchcraft, shunning, and the very big issue of judgement that very much still exists to this day.
The most valuable part of the novel that spoke to me most is the true power that the mind holds. In the novel Hester Prynne who was sent overseas by her husband in the 1600’s, he was said to follow after her, but two years went by with no sign of him. Hester then became pregnant by someone outside of her marriage. Adultery was punishable by death during these times, but she was not punished to death, because of the circumstances, instead she was shunned. She refused to identify the father and took all the blame, throughout the novel she isolates herself from the townspeople, and raised her daughter, Pearl, without much parenting. She felt there was no point, she was meant to have a bad child, it was a part of her punishment. As life went on she just went along with all of the bad things that happened to her, she did not try to fight off bad things she simply accepted them, in her mind she felt like she didn’t deserve good, she only deserved bad because of the crime she commited. This was very unhealthy, she was the only person who still thought about what happened on the daily, she was the only person hiding out and still punishing herself, she was the only person holding herself back from happiness.
This really goes to show that you set your own destiny, if you’re not determined to change the outcomes you receive, nothing will change. This novel only scratches the surface of the power of the mind and mental health issues. Mental health issues are a major part of the world we live in today, with the numbers of diagnosed mental illness at an all time high especially with the worldwide pandemic going on. It’s fascinating that even a novel written in the 1800’s still brings something so meaningful to light over 200 years later.