The Holder of
the World by Bharati Mukherjee adopts many elements of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s,
The Scarlet Letter. In this blog, I will discuss a few of the
main points that Mukherjee emulates in his novel.
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| King Phillip |
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a strong female individual
that is made an example of in front of the whole community. She is ostracized, ridiculed, and punished
for having pre-marital sex. Hester is
forced to have the A branded upon her chest and there it remains. Hester suffers because of the community’s
perception of her. In The Holder of the World, Hannah Easton
is punished and ostracized. I see her
mother’s death as a punishment of some sort from King Phillip. The author does not really give an
explanation for why her mother was killed.
It is as if King Phillip is asserting his dominance in America by having
a massacre. Mukherjee writes about the
impact on Hannah, “Has any child been so burdened? She has witnessed the Fall, not Adam’s Fall,
Rebecca’s Fall. Her mother’s Fall,
infinitely more sinful than the Fall of man” (30). Hannah witnesses the execution of her mother
and is then raised with her neighbor.
There is a connection between Hannah and Hester Prynne. They both suffer from an outsider’s
perspective.
Another key connection that I see
between the books is the naming.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s main characters are reflected in The Holder of the World as well. Mukherjee chooses the names of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s characters in The Scarlet
Letter. Hester, Prynne, and even
John Hathorne are utilized in The Holder
of the World. Mukherjee is
commenting on The Scarlet Letter
through these characters. Mukherjee is
also commenting on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s past because of the mentioning of
Hawthorne’s ancestor, John Hathorne. I think
that Mukherjee is commenting on the reasons why Hawthorne added the “w” to his
name. John Hathorne is known for his
participation in the Salem Witch Trials.
Nathaniel is ashamed of this and changed his name because of it. I believe that Mukherjee is commenting on how
the injustice is something that Hawthorne needed to conceal because it is a
very dismal appearance toward his family line.
There are a lot of key features of The Scarlet Letter that Mukherjee reflects
on in his novel. The Holder of the World is a reflection on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
