Krista Day Ms. Penn A.P. English 11 November 2011 The Scarlet Letter Comparison Essay Often, stories written about similar topics can possess writing mechanics which compare in quite a few ways . These aspects help readers to develop a better understanding of the story and its characters. Also, these similar properties help to develop conflicts, deeper meanings, and lessons meant to be taught by the story. For example, “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American Romantic novel which focuses greatly on sin and its consequences. A typical Romantic story, “The Scarlet Letter” also focuses much on symbolism and an author's purpose which is developed by those symbols. “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne can be compared to “The Woman Caught in Adultery”, a biblical parable, and “A Double Standard”, by Frances E. W. Harper, because of their similar themes, symbolism, and authors' purposes. “The Scarlet Letter”, “The Woman Caught in Adultery”, and “A Double Standard” each portray the theme that everyone sins, and each of us should be punished equally for it. In “A Double Standard”, the narrator conveys to readers that she suffers more punishment than the man she has found herself to be in love with. She questions readers in an accusatory fashion of whether she should suffer being put through most of the blame, when her man had an equal part in their relationship. This shows her disapproval of the way that her peers act like they do no wrong in life, when they have also sinned. In “The Woman Caught in Adultery”, the narrator has been caught in the very act of her sin, adultery. The scribes and pharises of the town bring her to Jesus, telling him that she has sinned and asking him what he plans to do to punish her in a suitable way. Jesus replies to the crowd by commanding whoever is without sin to be the first to throw stones at the adulteress, knowing that everyone in the crowd has sinned. Everyone disappears from the area, showing that they all have sinned and therefore are not able to punish the woman, demonstrating the theme of the parable. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester is forced to wear a physical representation of her sin, and is looked down upon by the rest of her community. Her fellow sinner and lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, is tortured by the fact that Hester will not let him admit his sin to the town for the sake of his well-being. The way that he suffers and, in the end, passes away, greatly demonstrates the fact that he wanted to be equally punished for his sin. This situation portrays the theme that all sinners should be punished equally. Each of the stories also contain similar symbolism. They share symbols dealing with the element of sin in the story, whether physical or not. For example, in "A Double Standard", representation of the narrator's sin is symbolic in the town's disapproval. By the narrator questioning readers, we are able to see that she has received disapproval for her actions. In "The Woman Caught in Adultery", Jesus tells the scribes and pharises to throw stones at the adulteress if they are without sin. Therefore, throwing the stones is symbolic of sin in the way that it would indicate those who are pure. In "The Scarlet Letter", Hester is forced to wear a red letter "A" on the front of any item of clothing she chooses to wear as punishment for her sin of adultery. This physical representation of her sin informs everyone she comes in contact with of her mistake and punishment. Therefore, it is symbolic of sin. “The Scarlet Letter” can also be compared to “The Woman Caught in Adultery” an “A Double Standard” due to their similar authors’ purposes. Each of the stories’ authors have chosen to use their stories to mock society. Each story mocks the way that everyone sins, but when one person is blatantly caught, everyone else is very eager to make it out like they are pure from sin. In “A Double Standard”, the author uses the narrator’s accusatory questions and the symbolic group of people around her to convey the purpose of the story. In “The Woman Caught in Adultery”, the author uses the scribes’ and pharises’ disapproval and the throwing of the stones to convey that the rest of the town realizes that they have sinned and should not punish the adulteress more than themselves. In “The Scarlet Letter”, the author uses Hester’s state of being outcast and looked down upon by the rest of the town to convey the way the fact that everyone is eager to punish someone who has been caught in their sin. The author uses the way that Hester overcomes her situation and her thoughts to show that the rest of the town is not as pure as they act. In conclusion, “The Scarlet Letter”, “A Double Standard”, and “The Woman Caught in Adultery” contain similar writing mechanics. Each story portrays the theme that no one is completely pure from sin, and all people should be punished equally for it. Each also contains symbolism that shows a deeper insight to the story by portraying various aspects of sin in the story. Finally, the stories all are all meant to mock a society or group in which everyone is eager to punish the one person who is blatantly caught in the act of their sin. The stories’ use of these three aspects makes them alike in a few ways.