"The Scarlet Letter" NOT a Classic

After reading the common novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the word classic did not really come to mind. Words such as controversial, historic, and unique come to mind much easier when describing this somewhat known story. Because society today is so much unlike the one within the novel, there is not much a reader could relate to in "The Scarlet Letter". For this novel to be known as a classic, many people of all types should be able to find interest within the story. However, the downgrading of women, the time era and structure of government, and the language used are all factors that should be neutral in a classic. Many people today are so used to the beginning, middle, and end sort of stories, yet "The Scarlet Letter" takes pages and pages that turn into chapters to explain a simple event.

Reading this novel became much more difficult when there was nothing to relate to. It is understandable that a high school student wouldn't necessarilly relate to adultery, however, the setting and time era in addition to adultery is a little much. A classic novel should be capable of catching the interest of generations to come as well. "The Scarlet Letter" was back in a time era extremely different from today. Besides the general structure of government, the rights and treatment varied among those of different genders and races. These differences between the story and society today cause much irrelevancy within the reader's lives causing readers to turn away. A simple turn-off to reading a certain book is the language in which the novel is written. To keep a reader's interest throughout a story such as "The Scarlet Letter", one should not feel like they are deciphering sentences throughout the whole story.

"The Scarlet Letter" is indeed known as a classic to many. It would be biased to refer to this novel as a classic when only taking the opinions of those who may somewhat relate to it. Not all readers are looking for historic aspects in their reading as shown in "The Scarlet Letter". Many would not look forward to the discrimination and certain rights and wrongs presented either. The criteria to a classic novel is not shown within " The Scarlet Letter".