Bharati Mukherjee's The Holder of the World is widely considered a modern revision of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter due to it's many uncanny similarities to the 19th century novel - Hesters, single mothers, suggestions of witchcraft, illegitimate lovers and significant letters.
Long story short: Beigh, the narrator of the novel, is searching through her ancestor's history and comes along Rebecca Easton and her daughter, Hannah. Hannah, however, is not brought up by her parents, but by a Puritan family; and, after a marriage in which her husband supposedly dies (twice) and a move to India, she becomes the white lover of a Raja and is with child when he dies. Thus, she becomes a single mother.
The narrator suggests at the end of the story, "Who can blame Nathaniel Hawthorne for shying away from the real story of the brave Salem mother and the illegitimate daughter?" I think the real question is, what makes her think she did a better job?
Hawthorne did not stray or shy away from the real story - he made it quite clear. Hester raised and protected her daughter, Pearl, to the best of her abilities. She fought to give Pearl her own mind - not raised in the same Puritan society that ridiculed and ostracized them. Rebecca not only abandoned her daughter to the same Puritans that Hannah will eventually run from, but there is also a memory of Rebecca instilling a specific idea into Hannah's brain at an early age - A is for Act - almost like a lesson. Lastly, Gabriel and Hannah selfishly attempt to escape their lives in the United States and are equally unhappy in India. But Hester remains in Salem, despite her alienation, staying strong.
I feel like Jane Juffer would have something to say about that. Single mothers are ostracized, but they still do they best they can to bring up their child, whether by themselves or within a community.
Yes, Mukjherjee does do a better job at opposing the idea of Puritan ideology - the idea that "suffering is good" - the rebellion of Hannah is more apparent than of Hesters. But I feel that Hawthorne does a better job at truly demonstrating the idea of a single mother's life - making the best out of the worst situation and raising a child to be his or her own, despite the hypocrisy that surrounds her and the beauty that brought her into this world, despite the shame is is taken from it.
I like your comparisons between Hawthorne and Jane Juffer and then Mukherjee and Jane Juffer. I think you are right in that Hawthorne does show the struggles in single motherhood in a Puritan community.
ReplyDeleteI think it's also important to note that Mukherjee also seems to try to include some of this idea into her novel. It may not be the main focus but she still has images of Rebecca raising Hannah on her own, mostly removed from the township and receiving help from the Nipmuc man and woman in raising Hannah, which would have been extremely taboo at the time.
Again, it is definitely not the main focus, but I think the situation may be similar to what Juffer has said before.
Great post Dakota, thanks!
I think your thoughts on "A is for Act" as a kind of lesson on Hannah is a wonderful example of the power of language Mukherjee uses. Though Rebecca leaves her daughter physically, the impact she leaves is unarguable.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I don't think we should judge books by how well the characters do, though. Just because Hester Prynne does a better job at single mothering than Hannah Easton does not mean that Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a better book than Bharati Mukherjee. It doesn't even mean that Hawthorne does a better job writing about single mothers than Mukherjee.
ReplyDeleteI think Mukherjee's goal, as far as single mothering goes, is to show what could be possible for single mothers.
Jane Juffer shows that single mothers are subjugated by restricting their mobility. Mukherjee shows that single mothers can be powerful and free when they are not caged by the system they are in. Hannah's fantastic travels across the world are thus a sort of exaggerated, metaphoric goal for women in our own time.
When ideologies become natural "common sense," we can begin to believe that single mothers are inherently weak and immobile. Mukherjee shows how this does not have to be true.