Hawthorne and Walker--Beck

Perhaps more so than its content, a book’s success is determined by the author’s writing style. This essential part of writing is largely the reason individual authors are able to experience success in various genres. The American authors Alice Walker and Nathaniel Hawthorne were both praised for their personal writing styles in their books The Color Purple and The Scarlet Letter respectively. Being an African-American women born in 1944, Alice Walker lived and wrote under very different circumstances than the white, male Hawthorne that was born in 1804. Despite this, and because of it, these two acclaimed authors’ writing styles were both similar and different for a multitude of reasons.

The writing style of Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter and Walker in The Color Purple were alike in many ways. First, the two authors developed very similar protagonists. Celie, Walker’s main character, is an abused woman unable to change her circumstances. Celie expresses this saying, "He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don't never git used to it. And now I feels sick every time I be the one to cook” (Walker 11). Likewise, Hawthorne’s character Hester is a female outcast forced to wear a symbol of shame for having cheated on her husband. The similarity of using mistreated women as central characters is an important similarity in the two authors’ characterization as these individuals drive their story’s plots.

Moreover, the two authors’ style of writing is similar due to their utilization of symbolism. As the book titles indicate, color is a symbolic tool used by both authors. For Hester, the color scarlet symbolizes her sin of adultery because that is the color of the letter “A” she wears for being an adulterer. This is further reinforced as Hester’s child, the result of her sin, wears scarlet clothing. Hawthorne proves this connection when Mr. Dimmesdale, talking about Hester, says, “Therefore it is good for this poor, sinful woman that she hath an infant...to remind her, at every moment, of her fall” (Hawthorne 118). Similarly, Walker uses the color purple to represent an idea. Celie’s friend demonstrates this saying, “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it” (Walker 197). Purple is a representation of beauty and freedom as Celie was never allowed to wear purple while living with her abusive husband.

Lastly, the writing styles of the two book were similar as a result of their themes. In both, the authors emphasize the idea of the women strength and the power of resistance. Celie, despite being submissive for the majority of the book, defies her husband, who she doesn’t love, and goes on to live a better life. Similarly, Hawthorne creates a strong female character with the strength to defy the wishes of the town. Early on, the town’s officials and religious leaders attempt to pry the name of the man Hester cheated with out of her in front of the entire community. For the entirety of the day, Hester resisted these inquisitions despite pressure and bravely took on the consequences that ensued. This theme regarding the power of individuals, particularly women, is a connection that ties together Walker and Hawthorne’s writing styles.

While their writing styles were similar in some regards, Walker and Hawthorne’s style of writing was different in others. The largest difference in the writing style of the two books is the point of view. Walker uses the first person and tells the story through letters written by both Celie and her sister. This perspective gives great insight as to what the main character is thinking and feeling, however, leaves out details, such as other characters’ thoughts, that a different point of view would allow. Contrary to this, Hawthorne uses the 3rd person omniscient which allows readers to know more about what other characters are thinking and feeling. The trade off to this writing style is the reader is unable to develop the same personal connection with a particular character which is developed in the first person. On top of this, Hawthorne frequently breaks the fourth wall by addressing the reader in the text. This perspective is a critical difference that separates the two authors’ writing style.

Furthermore, the writing style of Walker and Hawthorne are different as a result of their diction and syntax. Because The Color Purple is “written” by a character in the book who is uneducated, its word choice is very simplistic with sentence structure that is basic and frequently contains incorrect grammar. This style of writing is in total contrast to Hawthorne’s. Being a well-educated man, Hawthorne’s diction is complex, including words such as; sumptuary, iniquity, visage, and amenable. Additionally, Hawthorne’s writing style can be seen in his book’s syntax which frequently includes appositives and mid-sentence punctuation such as parenthesis and hyphens. This syntax difference is an important distinction between the two book’s writing style. Hawthorne is very descriptive, developing a very vivid and clear setting while Walker’s rudimentary sentences leave a lot of the scenery to the reader’s imagination.

In conclusion, the writing styles of The Color Purple and The Scarlet Letter were similar and different in several ways. Despite having numerous writing elements, such as point of view, different, these two books have stood the test of time and are revered as American classics. The reason these two books were successful was not because one writing style was better than the other, but because the writing styles fit the story being told. The complex writing style Hawthorne uses matches the strict Puritan society the book is set in, while the casual, informal writing of Walker matches the setting of the rural South where Walker emphasizes the ignorance of society. Finally, the two writing styles are effective, despite their differences, because they were written for different audiences, making it so an individual can enjoy and understand one more than the other.