I for Ignorance: When Ignorance is NOT a Bliss

It's true. As a society, we are all incredibly ignorant. Although no human can possibly learn everything about the world, there is a limit to how ignorant a person can be. Hawthorne reinforces the hypocrisy of ignorant Puritan society in the last few pages of the book when he states that "certain persons, who were spectators of the whole scene, and professed never once to have removed their eyes from the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, denied that there was any mark whatever on his breast, more than one a new-born infant's" (253). We only believe what we want to believe, and if the truth doesn't satisfy our feelings, we blind ourselves from the enigma and fabricate a new truth. Perhaps everyone in the world should just stitch an I for Ignorance upon their chests. Or maybe the "tooth of unenlightment" will just chew us out eventually. Ironically, the wearer of the scarlet letter who is scorned by society is the individual who is able to view the world through a different lens. Through her ignominious A, Hester rises above the ignorant and expands her thoughts to a state of open-mindedness, a striking difference to the "iron spikes" of Puritan society.

We mock the Puritans for being unaware and find it difficult to empathize with their inability to accept others. But we are no different. After the Holocaust, a group called the Holocaust deniers came out stating that the Holocaust was a hoax arising out of a deliberate Jewish conspiracy to advance the interest of Jews. In order to forget the  real, historical evidence of the horrific genocide, they resorted to denying it ever happened, just as how the townspeople denied that Dimmesdale ever slept with Hester. The inability to cope with the truth and instead glaze over it reveals that society today has not changed drastically from Puritan times.

Ignorance is a bliss-- only for children, that is. In "The Scarlet Letter", Pearl represents ignorant innocence. Because she is unable express her observations with the correct words, she is seen as "ignorant". In her case, it is a bliss, because she is able to skip through life without a care in the world. However, as she grows older, she gains more responsibility for her actions. Furthermore, she loses the right to be ignorant, for she is older and wiser. Similarly, a young and budding country could be forgiven for their actions. They have the right to be ignorant, for the country has yet to experience tragedies and sorrows (Although the Puritans were not a "new" country--basically, they were another England). However, as a country grows older, they lose the right to be ignorant. There comes a point in time where the citizens must mature and grasp for the immense plethora of knowledge around them. Thus, as a country ages, the people must become more open-minded and accept responsibilities.