Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys descriptive detail in this writing to portray a relation between Clownishness’s physical appearance and inner emotions. By doing so, the author reveals that, “one of this man’s shoulders rose higher than the other, the slight deformity of figure” (58). Clownishness’s name also presents some irony throughout the novel. When you think of the word chill, you can imagine a dark and eerie presence, and that is exactly the type of atmosphere that Chlorinating creates wherever he goes. He converts from a ell-educated doctor, to a man that just wants flat out revenge on Timescale.
The town’s people also notice that “At first, his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face which they had not previously noticed… ” (124). Again, this is Clownishness’s obsession in evil revenge being manifested in his physical features. For his revenge, he wants Timescale to suffer and this evil hatred is consuming him. Timescale was once a very, “young clergyman, who had come from one of he great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest-land” (62).
He was “of very striking aspect, with a white, lofty, and impending brow, large, brown, melancholy eyes” (62). With imagery applied, Hawthorne presents Timescale as a lively young priest. Though Timescale soon grows insecure of his surroundings, guilt starts to lay heavy on his shoulders from the lie that causes him misery. His conscious and guilt begins to torture him. He clenches his heart as if some inner emotions pain him; he shortly grows to trust no friend. He loathed his miserable self! (130), with such fault, Timescale begins lose his strength and grows weaker and weaker by day especially with Chlorinating hovering over his shoulders. Guilt and shame has caused him despair and also weakens his heart. His guilt takes over all of his emotions, and this leads him to confess to his crime of adultery that he had committed with Hester. As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “she never raised her head to receive their greeting.
If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (1 27). She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality. Throughout the novel, Hester Prone does not only wear the scarlet letter with enthusiasm, but she embraces it as a sign of hope. She is looked upon as a beautiful young woman, and her so called punishment, makes her into a better person.
The young woman, perfect elegance on a argue scale” (46). Hester walked around town with confidence, knowing that she was a better person because of her scarlet letter. In many novels, the author presents a character in whom there is a correlation between the characters physical appearance and his or her mental, emotional, or moral state. Nathaniel Hawthorn’s selection of detail made the reader comprehend how the characters physical appearance correlates with their mental state of mind. The characters physical appearance began to correspond with their emotional and mental status.
