Janine MeansENGL 102

Dr. MartindaleEssay 1

Self-Reconciliation

“Reconciliation requires changes of heart and spirit, as well as social and economic change. It

requires symbolic as well as practical action”. This quote by Malcolm Fraser depicts three different

changes that come about in interpersonal reconciliation. In literature, characters can grow to see their

downfalls and rise above what previously held them. Three main characters in separate stories have one

similarity: they reconcile with their past. Ivan Illych, the narrator, and Dimmesdale reconcile with

themselves through changes of heart and spirit, social change, and symbolic and practical action.

In the short story The Death of Ivan Illych, the main character Ivan Illych comes to self-

reconciliation through changes of heart and spirit. Ivan is very focused on his outward appearances and

own personal gain. One example of this is when he chooses his wife, Praskovya Fedorovna. When first

considering why he should marry, Ivan does not consider love. Rather, he chooses to marry Praskovya

for “personal satisfaction and at the same time it was considered the right thing by the most highly

placed of his associates”(26). This demonstrates how selfish Ivan is as a person; he considers only

himself. As he travels closer to his inevitable death, Ivan realizes how wrong his actions were. He was

more concerned about personal gain than loving and living. While reflecting, Ivan realizes “all that had

seemed joys now melted before his sight and turned into something trivial and often nasty”(56). This

conclusion rattles Ivan's frame of mind and makes him reflect his life values. On his deathbed, Ivan

realizes life's treasures were still his for the taking: he reconciles with his family in his final days. With

a content heart, he is able to let go of his life.

In Wordsworth's poem I Floated Lonely As a Cloud, the narrator self-reconciles through social

change. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator experiences isolation when he “wanders lonely as a

cloud”(1). As he wanders, he sees daffodils that are moving in the breeze of the day. As he continues

to wander, he still sees the daffodils “stretched in never-ending line”(9). In the presence of nature,

which Wordsworth highly valued, the narrator begins to feel as though he belongs in a certain place.

He states that that narrator becomes more happy in the company of the dancing daffodils that are ever

present on his journey. Finally, Wordsworth mentions that when his is feeling pensive, he remembers

the daffodils which “is the bliss of solitude”(22). This line reveals that when the daffodils cross his

mind, he slips into a mindframe where there is no alienation, for he belongs with the daffodils. The

transition from an inner loneliness to one of feeling as though he belongs highlights the narrator's social

change.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale reconciles with himself through

symbolic action. Throughout the novel, there are three scenes upon the scaffold where Hester first

received her scarlet “A”. Reverend Dimmesdale, her illegitimate lover, takes different action in each

scene. In the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale is an onlooker while Hester bears the shame of her

sin and receives the “A”, which signifies her adultery. He knows he is part of the scene that is being

displayed, but keeps up external pretenses. Seven years pass, and one night Hester and Pearl are upon

the scaffold with Dimmesdale. When Pearl asks if Dimmesdale will “stand [with them] come

noontide”, Dimmesdale withdraws and explains that he cannot appear with them in the light of day.

As Dimmesdale retreats externally, he punishes himself internally. He fasts, holds vigils, and

even whips himself. His response to sin makes him sickly, and it is not until he meets Hester in the

forest to plan their escape that he becomes healthier. After his Election Day sermon, Dimmesdale's

guilt is so high that he calls upon Hester and Pearl to grace the scaffold with him. He reveals his shame

and sin for all to see, and shows his “A” that has been carved upon his own chest to match Hester's

“A”. After confessing, Dimmesdale immediately falls but feels as though he has shown his true self to

those who look on. Between the scaffold, which symbolizes shame, and his own scarlet “A”,

Dimmesdale reconciles with his sin before his death.

While reconciliation takes longer to achieve, these three characters turn inward to see that they

are not who they previously were. Self-reconciliation occurs through changes of heart and spirit, social

change, and symbolic and practical action.

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