Pleasantville And The Scarlet Letter
The movie Pleasantville, directed by Gary Ross, and the novel, The Scarlet
Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both were stories focused on outcasts in
society. Though they were written generations apart, they share similar
illusions of society, and judgments or actions from society.
Both societies had their strict visions of a Utopia. Pleasantville was a
society based on a classic, but unrealistic, 1950’s television show, where
everything is perfect, and every day is the same. It was their perfect and
pleasant utopia. The Scarlet Letter’s Utopia followed the Puritan’s strict
beliefs and the people never sinned. These utopias were totally unnatural
and unreal, which is logical considering ...
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Pleasantville, was red. Red
was also symbolic in The Scarlet Letter, where the letter was scarlet, or
red. Red represented the heart. Not literally, but the human soul and an
individual’s feelings. The letter on Hester’s chest revealed her desires
which she acted upon, which were normal. What started with red in
Pleasantville, turned into every color representing individualism and
emotion. In these stories, color represented reality and life. Their
societies made color out to be sin. Not coincidentally, both of the
creators of these stories used color to represent emotion, showing not only
how societies have maintained similarity, but people and writers have also.
As in all societies, change is not readily accepted. Shame was put onto
those who were different. They became outcasts. The only way to change a
society, is with time, and that is what it took. The townspeople of
Pleasantville realized in time that color, or emotion, was not a bad thing.
In time, Hester was not ridiculed ...
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"Pleasantville And The Scarlet Letter." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 8 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 Jan. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Pleasantville-And-The-Scarlet-Letter/77151>
"Pleasantville And The Scarlet Letter." Essayworld.com. January 8, 2008. Accessed January 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Pleasantville-And-The-Scarlet-Letter/77151.
"Pleasantville And The Scarlet Letter." Essayworld.com. January 8, 2008. Accessed January 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Pleasantville-And-The-Scarlet-Letter/77151.
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