Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Interpreting Meteors, Weeds, And Sunshine: Acts Of God In The Scarlet Letter, Eleanor Cory '12

2009 Fall Semester

In recent years, many occurrences—from hurricanes to medical rarities to pictures on pieces of toast—have been labeled acts of God. Those who disagree attribute this association to the idea that people read what they want into a situation. Similar comparisons were made in the time of the Puritans, although theirs tended to be taken more seriously and often held authority in government or court. Still, the idea that these “messages from God” are subconsciously interpreted to fit personal beliefs can also be applied to those of Massachusetts Bay. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that when events …