The Scarlet Letter is a novel written in the seventeenth century while Erin Brockovich is an American film produced in the twentieth century. Although they were produced and written in different eras, both discussed the life of the oppressed woman. The film reflects a true story about a woman named Erin who founded an organization after managing to dismantle one of the largest water companies in the United States. He dedicated his life to fighting for those affected by toxic and carcinogenic chemicals used in water. On the other hand, The Scarlet Letter is a novel that tells the story of a woman who had been a victim of Puritan rigor and how her adulterous behavior was a sin that deserved to be punished. In this essay we will explore the common themes between the Scarlet Letter and Erin Brockovich; especially examining the female characters which are Hester Prynne and Erin Brockovich. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first common theme is suffering. Both Erin and Hester had experienced suffering for much of their lives. For example, Hester's life has been full of problems since she became pregnant by her lover Dimmesdale. At that time the Puritan society considered her inferior to everyone because she had committed adultery. They therefore decided to punish her in front of all the people of the Massachusetts colony so that it would be a life lesson for every woman who even thought of having illegitimate sexual intercourse. The messenger said, “Make way, good people, make way, in the name of the king,” he shouted. “Open a passage; and, I promise you, Mrs. Prynne will be placed where men, women, and children may have a fair view of her brave attire, from this hour until one hour after the meridian. A blessing upon the righteous colony of Massachusetts, where iniquity is brought into the open! Come, Mrs. Hester, and display your scarlet letter in the market-place!” chapter one. The excerpt shows that Hester was publicly humiliated and mistreated. It was a topic of conversation in that time period. Later, Hester felt terrible the moment she stood on the scaffold seeing the gloomy crowd staring at her in serious mood. She wished she could shout to the crowd and jump off her seat: "But, under the leaden weight she was condemned to bear, she felt, at times, as if she needed to shout with all the might of her lungs, and she would throw herself to the ground from the gallows, or she would go mad instantly.” Chapter Two Another situation that explains Hester's worries and suffering is when she learned that some people were discussing the idea of ​​taking her daughter away. Hester visited the governor's house to verify those rumors. But Hester managed to convince the gentlemen to leave Pearl with her; and activity in the affairs of the settlement. It had come to her ears that there was a design on the part of some of the leading inhabitants, who worshiped the strictest order of princes in religion and government, to deprive her of her son” Chapter seven. This excerpt reveals Hester's concerns about her only daughter. She is afraid that the governor will take the pearl away from her. For Hester, Pearl is the only one left in this cruel society and it is impossible to give up her precious Pearl. On the other hand, Erin also had some suffering. First, she is a mother of three and is divorced twice. Erin had to take care of her children alone. In many scenes of the film, we can see Erin struggling toget and keep a job. The journey of her suffering began when she was left alone with her children, without any financial support. Then, she was hit by a car in an accident and couldn't even get financial compensation. Although she had a wound on her neck, she had to carry on her responsibilities as a mother. Another example of suffering in the film is when Erin needed money and had to go to different companies to ask for a vacancy. She couldn't afford to pay for her children's meals at restaurants. At one point he took his children out for lunch, but did not order food for her. Instead, she came home eating canned food. Furthermore, Erin has devoted most of her time to work and earning money and in one scene she feels sad because her little daughter has said her first word. It was “ball” instead of pronouncing “mom.” This shows how painful Erin's life has been. He was the father and the mother at the same time. The distance from her children caused her bitter suffering. However, he could not abandon or give up his job and go back to what he was before. The second common theme in The Scarlet Letter and Erin Brockovich is the desire to help others. We can find this theme represented in the characters of Erin and Hester, even though they both have nothing to give for the poor or those who need help, but they did their best. From the two stories we can realize that both Hester and Erin, who were single mothers, had suffered because of their communities; They had no husbands to support them or jobs from which they could earn money to feed their children, and no one tried to help them. And therefore as soon as they found work they helped others and even when they did so they were judged by people according to their external appearance. But when people realized that they were like them and were honest, they believed them and loved them. The following quotes and scenes will show how they help others. In The Scarlet Letter, In Chapter V when Hester began her needlework and earned money. She took only what she needed and could live with, and gave the rest to those who needed it more than her. Furthermore, he sometimes makes clothing for the poor. Although the author considers this a sin, in chapter XIII she shows the opposite. “Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not infrequently insulted the hand that fed them. Most of the time, which he might easily have devoted to the best efforts of his art, he spent in making rude garments for the poor. In another chapter, the XIII, Hester was seen by the people of her city as so peaceful because she helped the poor, and was the first person who goes to help those who were quarantined. He didn't expect anything from them. He simply wanted to help them because he took great pleasure in doing so. for little Pearl and for herself by the faithful work of her hands: she was ready to acknowledge her sisterhood with the human race whenever benefits were to be conferred. None so ready as she to give her little substance to every need of poverty, even if the poor man with a bitter heart threw him a joke in exchange for the food brought regularly to his door, or the clothes made for him by the fingers that could have embroidered the robe of a monarch. None so devoted to herself as Hester when plague plagued the city. In fact, in all seasons of calamity, both general and individual, the outcast of society immediately found his place. In the Erin Brockovich movie, Erin also helped others. When he got a job at a small law firm and discovered a curious case, and began to investigate, he discovered that all the illnesses in the Hinkley community were thea result of the Pacific Gas and Electric company lying to the community about the safety of their drinking water. And so he decided to help them assert their rights. Because she was honest, people trusted her and empowered her to get their rights back. Erin dedicated her time and all her moments with her children to work on this case and help those people, she felt their pain, their suffering and their fear for their children because she was a mother and did her best to help them. The best example that illustrates Erin's determined will to help others is when the lawyers said that this case is a loser because they don't have enough documents to prove that PG&E had manipulated the people of Hinckley. Erin fought for them and risked her safety to obtain those documents in order to win the case and get financial help for sick families. The third theme is overcoming obstacles. All people face obstacles and problems in life, as do Hester Prynne and Erin Brockovich. We can see this in The Scarlet Letter and Erin Brockovich. First in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne faced many obstacles, but she does not let those obstacles limit her form in continuing her life. One of these obstacles is that when she got out of prison, Hester was free to go anywhere in the world and start a new life with her daughter, but she preferred to live in a cottage on the outskirts of the city and also ignores people's talk about her and about what he did. Works in embroidery. His work is in great demand for dresses worn during official ceremonies and among the city's fashionable women for every occasion except a wedding. This can be seen from the following quote: “Lonely as Hester's situation was, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she was nevertheless in no danger of misery. She possessed sufficient art, even in a land which offered comparatively little space for its exercise, to provide food for her prosperous child and herself. It was art, then as now, almost the only one within a woman's reach: that of embroidery. She bore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, an example of her delicate and imaginative skill, which the ladies of the court might gladly have availed themselves of, to add the richest and most spiritual ornament of human ingenuity to their silken fabrics. and gold chapter. Furthermore, when they decided to take Pearl away from her because she didn't want to learn her good morals and not be like the other girls in the city, she went to the governor's house to prevent them from taking her daughter away and thus managed to overcome this problem. ; “God gave me the baby!” - he shouted. “He gave it to her in exchange for all the other things you took from me. She is my happiness, but still my torture! Pearl keeps me here in life! Perla punishes me too! Don't you see, she is the scarlet letter, capable only of being loved, and therefore endowed with a million times the power of punishment for my sin? You won't take it! I'll die first!'. "God entrusted her to me!" repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shout, "he will not give up!" And here, with a sudden impulse, she turned to the young clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale, towards whom, up to that moment, she seemed not once to look. "You speak for me!" - he shouted. “You were my shepherd, you were responsible for my soul, and you know me better than these men can. I won't lose the baby! Speak for me! You know - because you have the sympathy these men lack - you know what is in my heart, and what a mother's rights are, and how much stronger they are when that mother has nothing but her child and the letter scarlet! Be careful! I won't lose the baby! Look at it... There's some, 2017.