Expressions of the Transcendentalists
“Nobody knows this little Rose” by Emily Dickinson expresses how important a rose actually is to its environment and without the rose being of existence will affect the objects that are close to it. Dickinson goes onto say what is affected by the loss of the rose. Also in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne he emphasizes how when a situation alters that there is a different way of life that comes with it.
Emily Dickinson and Hawthorne use change within an entity to utilize how it can affect the things closest to it. Dickinson uses a rose to express herself,”Nobody knows this little Rose”, to convey how important the rose is be to its environment when it dies. Dickinson says,7 ‘“Only a bee will miss it”’ (Dickinson line 5), this means that when the rose should die that the bee will not have somewhere to land to reap the pollen from the rose. Hawthorne uses a black flower to emphasize what is growing upon Chillingworth’s heart. Hawthorne writes,”’ Let the black flower blossom as it may”’ (119).
The” black flower blossoming” is used to also indicate the evil growing upon Chillingworth’s heart and how it has an affect on the way Chillingworth’s deformity. The authors both use the colors red and black to create an image in the readers mind so that they understand what the colors red and black mean. The image that the red rose puts an image of love in some minds or how miserable the bee might be after the departure of the rose. The word usage that Hawthorne uses to describe the black rose gives the image of death, and the black flower that that was growing over Chillingworth’s heart would be the one that kills him.
Dickinson goes on to say “’ Only a Bird will wonder’”(Dickinson line 9), this line represents how if the bird uses the rose to indicate where food is, it will not be able to get food, and will wonder where the rose is and will have to find a new place to gather food. Hawthorne writes “’I will keep my secret, as I have this”’ (53). As Hester and Chillingworth are talking to each other about who her child, Pearl’s father actually is, Chillingworth tells her to keep their connection a secret, along with the secret his true identity.
Along with the other secrets, Hester makes a vow to herself that she will never tell anyone who Pearl’s father is. In addition, Hester keeping this secret throughout the book brings a burden upon her heart, as well as Dimmsdale’s. This colossal secret has makes Dimmsdale start to fast and beat himself with a scourge that is hidden in his closet. This change within Hester and Dimmsdale’s minds is affecting Pearl, Dimmsdale, Chillingworth and Hester’s lives. Dickinson and Hawthorne demonstrate how one minute secret or object’s can change from the life of something or someone that is very close to it.
Hawthorne says,”‘So speaking she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and taking it from her bosom threw to a distance among the withered leaves’”(Hawthorne 138). As Pearl has gone off to play she dress herself up in leaves and makes a scarlet letter of her own and has placed it upon her bosom. While Dimmsdale and Hester discuss their lives, Hester has a sudden outburst of self-assurance and wants to give up the scarlet letter to be free from the bondage it has brought upon her and her relationship with her child, Pearl. Hawthorne goes on to say,”’ Pearl’, look down at thy feet!
There! – Before thee! – on the hither side of the brook! ’… Bring it hither! … Swallow it up for ever! ”’(144). With the scarlet letter being off of Hester’s bosom Pearl does not recognize who Hester is, she sees her as if she is a stranger because Hester has had the scarlet letter on her bosom since Pearl can remember. Pearl also thinks that the scarlet letter is a good thing and that it is beautiful- Pearl wants a scarlet letter of her own. With the Scarlet letter being off of heater’s Bosom Pearl cannot accept the change that her mother has made.
Dickinson says,”‘Only a Breeze will sigh”’(Dickinson line 10) along with the other vital thing that the rose needs to survive the rose is also having an affect on the breeze. The breeze does not have anything to bump against anymore since the rose is not in the spot it was in before when it blew by. Hawthorne and Dickinson use these examples to show that when something or someone is use to seeing or feeling something a certain way; that when it changes they may or may not recognize the difference that has occurred with , in this case, the rose being missing from the breeze’s path and the scarlet letter being gone from Hester’s bosom. Nobody knows this little Rose”, Emily Dickinson concludes her poem by saying, “ Ah Little Rose—how easy/ For such as thee to die! ” she understands that the rose meant a lot to the butterfly, bee, breeze ,and bird. She emphasized on how each and every thing was affected by the loss of something that was very dear to them. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the Scarlet Letter to call attention to how the Puritan society actually is.
He explains how hard it is for a woman who has committed adultery with a secret that she cant reveal until the right time, a reverend who also committed adultery who has to keep the secret of adultery on his heart and sees his adulteress get punished for something that he participated in, and a man who was the seed to the tree that grew within The Scarlet Letter see what it was like to, in actuality, get a taste of his own medicine. Hawthorne began this story with a deep, dark picture of a jail entrance.
He gave the reader a image of a gloomy, gray place and he saw it fit to put a rosebush into the story. Later on in the chapter you begin to understand the amazing significance of the rosebush next to the jail. He also dwells on how narrow-minded the puritans were, how they had different religious views. Public Punishment was also put into perspective when it came down to the crookedness of the Puritan society. Lastly, Hawthorne symbolized death and secrets to utilize spiritual breakthrough and mental freedom.
Nathaniel Hawthorne has taken me on a emotional and theatrical rollercoaster. Emily Dickinson took a simple rose and highlighted on how natures creatures are affected by an absence of a friend. At the beginning she used the tone of a person who is taking a stroll and picks up a rose and is admiring how beautiful the rose is. As Dickinson goes on she say that she took it from its ways. Which means that after picking the rose she begins to see how the environment around it stop in their tracks and in a sense mourn over the loss of the rose.
She also sees how the bee will miss it because of its sweet pollen that it needs to feed its family. Without the bee taking the pollen from the flower the bee cannot help produce for its family and new flowers when it goes to another flower. The Butterfly hastening from its far journey would usually lie down on the rose to rest but now the butterfly will have to lie itself upon another flower that it is not use to.
Finally, Dickinson used the breeze to give imagery and a sense of smell; to paint a picture on how the breeze would look brushing up against the rose if it were in its regular spot. Also gives off the sweet smell of the rose. In “Nobody knows this little Rose”, Emily Dickinson creates a beautiful story in a twelve line poem. From the beginning to end , she creates a full-course dinner with one recipe. Emily Dickinson started off by gathering the ingredients, to slicing and dicing, to mixing all the ingredients together and smelling the beautiful aroma , to finally serving p a stunning creation of a poem. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Emily Dickinson have many similarities in their technique of writing. By reading a piece of their work; I have come to realize that they are two very dynamic authors that bring so many things into prospective about life, death, self-awareness, love and hate, and they put all of their thoughts into one small novel or poem.
Works Cited
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 1986. Print.
- Brooks, Kevin. The Road of the Dead. New York: Push, 2007. Print.
