The Scarlet Letter Annotated Bibliography

"Puritan Works Salvation and the Quest for Community in the Scarlet Letter. " Theology Today, vol. 57, no. 1, Apr. 2000, p. uses the novel of Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter to relate Hester to a chemical compounds in chemistry in terms of alkylation. The authors of the article looked at the alkylating agents which date back to the WW1 where this compound was used as a chemical weapon due to its toxic nature which makes it dangerous. The authors compared this chemical to Hester who before was viewed as a shame for her adulteress. When the novel ended, Hester transformed and became a symbol of pride whereas the alkylating agents which were considered toxic became a weapon helping humanity in the fight for cancer after the First World War had ended.