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The Other Wes Moore Similes Analysis

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“Punishment for such serious sexual crimes could be severe. Thomas Granger of Plymouth, a boy of seventeen or so, was indicted in 1642 for buggery "with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey." Granger was hanged; the animals, for their part in the affair, were executed according to the law, Leviticus 20.15, and "cast into a great and large pit that was digged for the purpose for them, and no use was made of any part of them” (Cox 1). Present day and Puritan communities use physical consequences as a result of unlawful actions. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore use similes and atmosphere to show that physical consequences result from unlawful actions.
The Scarlet Letter …show more content…

At the time that Hester comes out of jail and the Puritan community is “. . . with their eyes fastened on the iron clamped door” (Hawthorne 34). The community’s actions, and the danger of the iron clamped door create a tense and nerve wracking atmosphere, at the time of Hester Prynne’s physical consequences. In The Other Wes Moore, the judge’s verdict on the future of Wes’s life creates an atmosphere. During the trial, two sides of family are in the room, Wes Moore’s and the police office’s. When the judge announced that Wes Moore would receive life in prison the police officer’s “. . . widow. . . hugged her father and sobbed” (Moore 156). The police officer’s widow created a joyous atmosphere for her side of the courtroom, but on the other side of the courtroom “Wes’s mother, Aunt Nicey, and Alicia sat stunned with tears. . .” (Moore 157). Wes’s side of the family was in shock, they were sad, an opposing atmosphere was bought by his family to the courtroom. Together, a mixed atmosphere was created, during Wes Moore’s physical consequence. The atmospheres in The Scarlet Letter and The Other Wes Moore represent the theme that unlawful actions have physical consequences because they bring conflicting emotions to both scenes. Thomas Granger, a member of the Puritan community received a physical consequence for the unlawful crime of adultery he committed in 1642. Similes and atmosphere are used in The Scarlet Letter and The Other Wes Moore

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