The Scarlet Letter

I love this book! Actually, I do not. I had to read both this book and The Crucible in high school and at least in The Crucible, the people were full blown crazy. I didn't however read the Custom house. Though I have been advised not to read this, because it is very difficult to get through and understand. Difficulties with the book are limited for me, since I have read it before. I just don't like the book very much. The ending is really great, and Hawthorne's character development is done well, especially with Pearl. I never understood why Hester's husband who was so distant from her in the past, and seemed to be a terrible husband, all the sudden becomes involved in her life again when he hears a rumour that she may have had an affair. OOH what a caring man. And then he goes undercover. It's a bit psychotic to me and i never understood this deep revenge he had. Hawthorne never really got into his character too much to give him a good background and make the story more powerful when we realize who Roger Chillingworth is. There's a lot of give and take in this novel and although I do like the ending in a way, it's terribly depressing and a bit disappointing to the rest of the story, but I like how Hawthorne wrote it, that is. His use of foreshadowing and other literary elements does define his work very well. I don't have many difficulties with this text, other than it can be painfully boring to read.