Journal 1:

1.)“To-morrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the
next; each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so unutterably grievous to
be borne.” Chapter 5, Page Number 1
2.) Issue: How do we create justice in society?
3.) Justice, when created by a society is relative to those that are in it, and may not be
as just to others in other societies. So, when justice is created in a society, it’s more of a
system of punishment for things deemed unjust by the society. Not only is justice
relative to each society, but it is also created by the society’s religious, and political
views. Such as; when Hester performed adultery, that was against the community’s
religious views, and they decided to shun her and punish her in their own way that they
seemed fit for her actions. In the novel, Hester is being punished for adultery, and
because she’s gotten pregnant as a result of this, she’s being publicly shamed in the
community for what she had done, so she has to wear a scarlet “A” as a symbol of her
sin, and she’s being forced to wear the letter and hold her child on a podium in the
middle of the community so that she can be punished for her deeds.
4.) As a personal opinion, the so called “justice” that the community puts together for
Hester and Pearl can hardly be called just. I believe their actions towards Pearl and
Hester are inhumane and just plain unnecessary. If the society had come up with a
more sophisticated and maybe less permanent solution to the problem, then I think the
punishment would be more tolerable, but the way that they are literally labeling her with
a scarlet letter and shunning her because of it is terrible. I mean, not only does it affect
Hester for the rest of her life, but it also affects Pearl’s, who didn’t even have a choice or
a say in the matter, she’s just labeled because of what someone else has done to her.

Journal 2:
1.)“ ‘God gave me a child!’ cried she.” Chapter 8, Page 1
2.) What is the burden of the outsider of a society?
3.) In a society, the outsider is usually one who was labeled and shunned based on
something about them and / or someone that they were close to. People create the
outsider in a society so that they can; either feel better about themselves, rewarding
them for what they’ve done right, instead of what they might’ve done like the outsider, or
so that they can put that person down, which, also helps them feel better about
themselves. When someone is made the outsider because of something they did, or
how they’re viewed, they have a burden to carry, one that is not only for themselves, but
also for those who have done similar things or are seen in similar ways because they
don’t want anyone to feel the pain of not being able to be a normal part of society that
they do. In the novel, Hester Prynne is the outsider of the community, and her burden is
that she has to love and care for Pearl, who is basically the physical embodiment of her
shame and sin.
4.) In my opinion, the only reason that anyone would do anything so cruel and mean to
another person is so that they can feel better about themselves by putting someone
down. Either that, or so that they can feel rewarded for doing good deeds or things that
don’t cause them to be just like the outsider, mostly, just so they can make up for all the
times that they screwed up in their lives so that they can feel better about themselves.
Such as the people in the community in the novel, how they put Hester down because
of the choices that she made so that they can make themselves feel better about not
committing that sin that makes her shunned in such a way.

Journal 3:
1.) “Old Roger Chillingsworth, throughout life, had been calm in temperament, kindly,
though not of warm affections, but ever, with all his relations in the world, a pure
and upright man.” Chapter 10, Page Number 1
2.) How does the individual judge right from wrong?
3.) The individual, being Roger Chillingsworth, was obsessed with the integrity of the
judge, and this became the thing that he was always working toward, and it
became his obsession, to get inside the mind of the judge and see what is going
on there. In doing this, he crosses the line a few times trying to get what’s inside
his head, but he usually just takes care of him, because of his terminal sickness,
he was always focused on curing him of the sickness. How Chillingsworth judged
right from wrong is based on him and the curing of the sickness, which had
become his obsession, so anything that would help him obtain his goal was
something that was good, and something that prevented him from doing so was
bad. Individuals judge right from wrong in many different ways, and they differ
based off of the individual’s beliefs and practices, and based on whether those
beliefs are strong, that depends if they are realle good or really bad.
4.) I believe that Roger’s way of distinguishing right from wrong is good, maybe not
one hundred percent sound on all things, but the majority of the things that he did
weren’t really immoral or out of line in my opinion, but some of it did make him
come across as a crazy person.