Book Notes | ‘The Scarlet Letter’
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was set in the 1600s in a small town in Puritan New England. The townspeople felt they had to punish Hester Prynne because she had a baby and, as far as they knew, was not married. Her punishment was to wear a red letter “A” (for “adultery”) on her bosom for the rest of her life. She refused to reveal who the father was.
Hester was ashamed and yet lived her life and raised a precocious little girl named Pearl. If Hester had to wear the letter, she was going to make it beautiful. She sewed an elaborate, ornamental type of broach. The townspeople saw her talent as a seamstress, and this is how she made her living.
Enter a stranger
The young and respectable Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was the town’s minister. Arthur had his own demons that encouraged self-flagellation and fasting to a point of weakness. Enter a stranger to town, Roger Chillingworth. He professes to be a doctor and therefore able to help the struggling minister. Roger moves in with Arthur to monitor the reverend’s health.
We find out that Roger and Hester had been married but she left him, saying she never loved him. No one in town is aware of this and yet, although we don’t know how, we think Roger knows that Arthur is Pearl’s father.
The reverend feels terribly guilty about his sin and cowardice, hence his self-hate. Toward the end of the story, Hester, Pearl, and Arthur plan to return to England together to start a new life. But events intervene to keep this from happening.
The UMRA Book Club members thought this was a very difficult read. It was written in an Old English style and riddled with many words that we do not use anymore. Sentences go on and on, and the reader would lose track of the message the author was trying to convey. Some readers wondered why The Scarlet Letter was on high school reading lists. Also, for being such a long story, the ending was wrapped up pretty quickly and, some thought, contrived.
—Joni Mitchell, UMRA Book Club I
Book Club to meet April 19, 2024
Fri, Apr 19, 2024, 2pm
Joni Mitchell will lead the discussion of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne when the UMRA book club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 19. Originally published in 1850, this classic novel is set in Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair but refuses to reveal her lover’s identity. The Scarlet Letter chronicles how she suffers publicly for her choices and how she works to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
Email Pat Tollefson at [email protected] for more information. To read summaries of the book club’s discussions, go to umra.umn.edu and search for “Book Notes.”
Upcoming Events
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Good Night, Irene by the Mexican-American poet and novelist Luis Alberto Urrea when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom on Friday, March 21.
The U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts since 2025 is considered to be the most conservative and activist in history. But it has much in common with the 1963–69 Warren Court, widely viewed as the most liberal and activist. U of M professor of political science and law Timothy R. Johnson will put these claims into perspective as the guest speaker for UMRA’s March 25 brunch forum.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson when it meets on Friday, March 28, via Zoom. It is a horrifying and compelling read.
The Family History Interest Group meeting on April 2 will feature a presentation by UMRA member Barbara Fifield Brandt (pictured), who will describe how she unlocked the story of her ancestor, Almira Fifield, MD (1833–63), the “lost heroine of Porter County (Indiana)” and one of the first female physicians in the U.S.
The UMRA Hiking Club will explore wildlife along the Mississippi River in Fort Snelling State Park. The 3.9-mile Pike Island Loop is generally considered an easy route and takes just over an hour. Hikers can leave at that point, or stay to add another short loop. The trail is located below the bluff on which the historic fort sits. The last time we were there we saw a lot of deer, and the river always provides fascinating views.
“Geometrical shapes” will be the theme when the UMRA Photo Club will meets on April 8 at the Hennepin County St. Anthony Library in the St. Anthony Village Shops shopping center at New Brighton and St. Anthony Boulevards. For those interested in lunch first, meet at 11:30 a.m. at the Great Dragon Buffet, located across the parking lot from the library.
The University of Minnesota Archives, with its major holdings largely tucked away in two huge underground caverns along the Mississippi River under the West Bank campus, holds the essential records of our University of Minnesota’s past. University Archivist Erik Moore will interpret the holdings and bring out a sampling of what it holds. We will also get a tour of the caverns (Minnesota Library Access Center), revealing where these precious materials are housed, including the original tapes of KUOM, now Radio K.
Would you enjoy gathering with a group of 15-20 other UMRA members to share breakfast and conversation about a specific topic? Then UMRA’s new topical breakfast gatherings at The Original Pancake House in Roseville are for you.
For UMRA’s April 15 Living Well Workshop via Zoom, professor emeritus, author, and Braver Angels co-founder Bill Doherty will share with us what he has learned about overcoming differences in our families and communities in a highly polarized world.
The UMRA Book Club will discuss Random Family by journalist Adrian Nicole LeBlanc when it meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 18, 2025.
The UMRA Hiking Club will welcome guest leaders Bion Beebe and Linda Bjornberg from Twin Cities Hiking Meetup to introduce our group to a “new-to-us” trail on Monday, April 21. We will hike approximately 4 miles at a moderate 17 to 18 mile pace along the Minnesota River to Bass Ponds, a floodplain marsh and premier birding area.
You are cordially invited to see Rick Huebsch, Associate VP for Research, Technology Commercialization at UMN, who will discuss UMN Technology Commercialization. Tech Comm facilitates the transfer of UMN innovation beyond the research lab, to benefit the public good, foster economic growth, and generate revenue to support the University's mission.
UMRA’s Earth Day forum on April 22 will feature a presentation by UMRA member Peter Moe, the recently retired director of the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. He is well known and admired for building an incredibly successful facility and program for the University.
UMRA’s Armchair Traveler program on Wednesday, April 23, will take us to the coast of British Columbia for a month-long cruise and—halfway around the world—to Rwanda, a landlocked country located just a few degrees south of the Equator in East-Central Africa.
The Black Count: Glory and Betrayal by Tom Reiss, published in 2012 and winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in biography, will be the selection for discussion when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Newcomers are welcome.
Peter Moe, retired Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director and UMRA member, will be leading a hiking tour of the Arboretum again this year. The amazing tulip display was at its peak for our hike last year, and we will undoubtedly enjoy seeing many spring-blooming trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and perennials. Plan to stay for lunch together (optional) after the hike at the Rootstock café in the Oswald Visitor Center.
Do you have a box or several albums of old family pictures that you are not quite sure what to do with? Or perhaps you just want to find out more about your ancestors and are not sure where or how to begin. This meeting of the Family history group will be an open discussion.
We will revisit the University of Minnesota Archives, with its major holdings largely tucked away in two huge underground caverns along the Mississippi River under the West Bank campus, holds the essential records of our University of Minnesota’s past. University Archivist Erik Moore will interpret the holdings and bring out a sampling of what it holds. We will also get a tour of the caverns (Minnesota Library Access Center), revealing where these precious materials are housed, including the original tapes of KUOM, now Radio K.
You are cordially invited to this presentation by Andy Whitman, Professor, Attorney, Volunteer Financial Planner. He will discuss investments for your grandchildren.
In May we will be doing a photo shoot at the Como Conservatory.
.Wood Lake Nature Center is a peaceful 150-acre cattail marsh, woodland, and restored prairie that is a haven for migrating birds and waterfowl. This UMRA hike is a great opportunity for those who would like a shorter, easier hike. The trails are dirt, grass, and woodchip, with some bridges and a bit of paved trails. Only a couple small hills to navigate, the park is mostly flat.