The Problem Is That We No Longer Sympathize With Characters Who Behave In Unpredictable Ways.

How To Save Books From The Book People. If I were to try to pinpoint the biggest problem in our society these days, and the negative impact social media has had on reasonable discourse, I would point to the problem highlighted in this article. She opines: "But I’ve always suspected the real problem readers have with The Scarlet Letter is that it asks you to sympathize with characters who behave in unreasonable ways." This is an immature way to view life and its problems; because, people are complicated and set in their ways, and don't always react as we think appropriate. When a novelist creates characters that are true to this insight, social media caters to the unthinking people who lash out. "I would never allow anyone to make me wear a scarlet letter on my clothing!" "These characters are stupid!" And, on and on. It is too easy and too facile to criticize in our Internet world, and much too easy to cancel people or ideas we don't like. If we shout the loudest, we can prevail. Tolerance for the speech and views of others is, in my humble opinion, an existential requirement for our country and our world. If we don't get our act together, some maniac on either the right or the left will burn it all down. As I have said before, I won't be here to see it, and am glad of that. But, our children and their children will. What are you going to do about it?