“On a field, sable, the letter A, gules” (a heraldic description meaning a red “A” on a black background). This is the last line of The Scarlet Letter, one of the best novels of American literature.
Nathaniel Hawthorne had chosen a XVII century colonial backdrop to critique the rigid dogmas, hypocrisy, and unforgiving nature of Puritanism. The novel contrasts the female protagonist’s natural strength and emotional growth with a society that dehumanises her, emphasising the view that Puritan ideology often suppresses human compassion and individual free will.
To better understand the relationship between the story and its context, we have to consider three key – themes: theocracy and the law, predestination and judgement; hidden guilt and public shaming.
As far as the first theme is concerned, Puritan society in the Massachusetts Bay Colony operated as a theocracy where religious laws and civil laws were identical: the harsh punishment of Hester Prynne wearing the scarlet “A” reflects the Puritan belief that the sin of one threatened the entire community. Puritans were influenced by Calvinism and believed in predestination: this constant anxiety over whether one was among the “elect” (saved) or “unregenerate” (damned) resulted in a culture of intense introspection and judgment of others. For this reason, while Hester’s sin is made public, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale conceals his involvement. Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale to critique Puritan hypocrisy and highlight the destructive, psychologically corrosive nature of hidden guilt compared to open, though cruel, punishment.
Now, what makes this novel remind you of contemporary Trumpian America? A careful socio-political analysis likens U.S. President Donald Trump to a Puritan leader, noting his deep historical and electoral ties to conservative evangelical religious movements, the spiritual heirs of Puritanism. Political experts have viewed Trump’s approach to wielding power through the lens of Puritanism: this connection is clearly evident in the strategic move to link the prophetic and evangelical character of Puritanism with the assertion of an identity-based nationalism. From a strictly religious standpoint, Trump was raised Presbyterian—a branch of the Calvinism embraced by the Puritan Founding Fathers, yet he describes himself as ‘non-denominational’. Nevertheless, white evangelical and conservative Christians have been one of the most steadfast pillars of Trump’s electoral base, drawn by his stances on ethical issues, his defense of traditional values, and a messianic view of the President, regarded as a figure chosen to safeguard white American Christian identity.
Trump has made religion one of the instruments of his political rise and has revived a form of religious nationalism as the roots of his country’s identity, aiming at building a confessional state that increasingly blurs the line between politics and religion.
“Jesus is my savior, Trump is my President” read the T-shirts and caps worn by Trump supporters during his second election campaign. On July 13, 2024, at a political meeting in Pennsylvania, twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at Trump, wounding him in the ear; in front of the crowd, live social media and television cameras, the former president slumped down, only to rise again shouting, “Fight! Fight!”. This event evoked and fueled religious imagery: the leader miraculously saved, Jesus’s hand resting on Donald Trump’s shoulder. On election night, with victory all but assured, Trump himself declared from the stage of the Florida Convention Center that his life had been spared for a reason: “to bring America back to greatness!”
The same America which, four centuries before had not hesitated to sew a scarlet ‘A’ onto Hester Prynne’s chest in the name of a moralism that punishes truth and conceals hypocrisy.
Class Activities
Comparing Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and the presidency of Donald Trump taps into core themes of public shaming, the power of symbolism, and the court of public opinion.
Here are a few classroom activities you can use:
Showing courage
The Scarlet Letter
The Symbolic Rhetoric Gallery Walk
- Hang large sheets of paper around the room. On one side, list symbols from the book (the scarlet letter, the scaffold, the forest). On the other, list modern symbols or slogans associated with Donald Trump (e.g., the MAGA hat, specific rhetorical tropes, the T-Shirt mentioned in the article above).
- Students rotate in groups. They must identify how both the novel and modern political discourse use these symbols to galvanize followers, create “in-groups” versus “out-groups,” and control the narrative.
- Plenary to discuss the outcome of this gallery walk.
The materials are drawn from LitHUB. Literary echoes and future visions and Great inspirations.