Question
Then touching the shoulder of a townsman who stood near to him, he addressed him in a formal and courteous manner:
“I pray you, good Sir,” said he, “who is this woman?—and wherefore is she here set up to public shame?”
“You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend,” answered the townsman, looking curiously at the questioner and his savage companion, “else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne and her evil doings. She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale’s church. ”
“You say truly,” replied the other; “I am a stranger, and have been a wanderer, sorely against my will. I have met with grievous mishaps by sea and land, and have been long held in bonds among the heathen–folk to the southward; and am now brought hither by this Indian to be redeemed out of my captivity. Will it please you, therefore, to tell me of Hester Prynne’s—have I her name rightly?—of this woman’s offences, and what has brought her to yonder scaffold?”
Highlight the words and phrases that continue to describe the white man who arrived with the Indians.
How does the white man describe his time with the Indians? What inferences can be made about his experiences?
“I pray you, good Sir,” said he, “who is this woman?—and wherefore is she here set up to public shame?”
“You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend,” answered the townsman, looking curiously at the questioner and his savage companion, “else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne and her evil doings. She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale’s church. ”
“You say truly,” replied the other; “I am a stranger, and have been a wanderer, sorely against my will. I have met with grievous mishaps by sea and land, and have been long held in bonds among the heathen–folk to the southward; and am now brought hither by this Indian to be redeemed out of my captivity. Will it please you, therefore, to tell me of Hester Prynne’s—have I her name rightly?—of this woman’s offences, and what has brought her to yonder scaffold?”
Highlight the words and phrases that continue to describe the white man who arrived with the Indians.
How does the white man describe his time with the Indians? What inferences can be made about his experiences?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The passage describes the white man who arrived with the Indians as a “stranger” and a “wanderer.” He mentions having experienced “grievous mishaps by sea and land” and describes himself as having been held “in bonds among the heathen–folk to the southward.” This language conveys a sense of suffering and hardship, suggesting that his time with the Indians was marked by captivity and possibly trauma.
From these details, we can infer that his experiences were likely difficult and perhaps violent, characterized by a loss of freedom and an inability to return to his previous life. His use of the term "heathen–folk" also carries a connotation of disdain or cultural superiority, indicating that he views the people he was held captive by as uncivilized or different from himself. Overall, his description suggests a deep sense of displacement and longing for redemption and community as he seeks to understand the circumstances surrounding Hester Prynne.
From these details, we can infer that his experiences were likely difficult and perhaps violent, characterized by a loss of freedom and an inability to return to his previous life. His use of the term "heathen–folk" also carries a connotation of disdain or cultural superiority, indicating that he views the people he was held captive by as uncivilized or different from himself. Overall, his description suggests a deep sense of displacement and longing for redemption and community as he seeks to understand the circumstances surrounding Hester Prynne.