Charming Billy: First Half

One of an author's goals at the beginning of a novel is to fully engage her reader. Select a passage from the first half of "Charming Billy" that you found particularly interesting and explain how you think it contributes to engaging the reader in the novel. 

"She was from a place in County Wicklow, although she'd been over here since before the war. Since before Jonathan, the oldest boy, who was now stretched out under the umbrella with a magazine and an apple, was born. And of course, looking up at Jonathan on the blanket, they could not help but see the other girl too (although Billy saw her as a mirage of smeared color, pink legs and a dark suit, pink shoulders and arms and face, and a yellow cap like a low flame, a mirage that perhaps only wild hope and great imagination could form into a solid woman). 'That's Eva, my sister,' Mary said.'She's only visiting. She's on her way home.'"

This passage stood out to me as it provides a twist. Dennis and Billy have been sharing the beach with these women for two days and suddenly the reader discovers that the nanny on the sand is actually the woman that broke Billy's heart. We suddenly understand that we are experiencing Billy's first encounter with the girl from Ireland that toyed with his heart, something that his family thought affected him his whole life. It engages the reader as we see Billy's emerging love through his own eyes, although only we know what will be the outcome.

The Scarlet Letter: Second Half

Choose one of the three main characters and discuss his/her motivations throughout the novel. What is the final outcome for the character you are discussing, and what does this outcome suggest to the reader?

Throughout the novel Roger Chillingworth is motivated to discover who has fathered his unfaithful wife's child, believing that Hester has been punished enough by society. "I have left thee to the scarlet letter," replied Roger Chillingworth. "If that have not avenged me, I can do no more!" As Hester refuses to give his name, Roger sets out on his own pursuit, creating the character of a physician and going undercover in the small New England town.  He stalks Dimmesdale, becoming his doctor and urging him confess what he is sure is his secret affair with Hester. In the end, Roger gets what he wants, a confession from Dimmesdale, signifying a triumph over the sinners. However, as Roger's life was so intertwined with his quest for revenge, he ultimately has no further purpose to live and dies shortly after Dimmesdale.

The Scarlet Letter: First Half

Setting includes more than just time and place. It also concerns social conditions and customs of a given location and time period. Discuss the setting of The Scarlet Letter and how it contributes to your understanding of the book so far. 

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is set in Boston in the seventeenth century. During this time religion and politics were intertwined and the Puritan codes reigned as law. This places the character of Reverend Dimmesdale in a position of high power. It also means that the citizens of the area must abide by the religious laws, or else be ostracized by society. When Hester Prynne, a married woman, conceives a child with a man that is not her husband, she is seen not only as a sinner but as a criminal. Thus, she is punished under the law. These strict laws and societal expectations affect the way that each person in the city acts and is perceived. It is for this reason that Hester receives such harsh treatment from her peers after being released from the prison. On page 50 one woman even declares "This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die". As the book goes on ideas such as this continue to affect Hester's life, driving her to the literal edge of society as she lives secluded from the rest of the city.

The time period also affects how Hester is perceived as a woman. At the time, women were forced to be perfect and obedient to their husbands, and had little freedom. The fact that Hester went against her husband and was with another man adds to her sin. Not only has she gone against God and the law, she has disobeyed the wishes of a man she was meant to obey.