The Scarlet Letter Chapter One: The Prison Door Summary

This first chapter describes the town prison. Cool.
The narrator tells us that prisons are a necessity for all colonies, even those that seem perfect. Note to self: must have prison when starting our first Shmoop colony.
The townspeople are staring at the prison door, which is a gloomy thing: "like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era" (1.2). This door is not such a happy door.
There’s a wild rose bush growing along the side of the door that serves as a blessing to all criminals who enter the prison. Random, we know. But just imagine you were a criminal in Puritan Boston on a dreary spring day and (right before you’re tossed in the clink) you see a beautiful, blood red rosebush. Would your day not be that much lighter?
The townspeople believe that the wild rose bush at the prison door sprang up the moment Ann Hutchinson entered the prison. Ann Hutchinson is a real historical figure who was tried and punished for expressing her belief that humans should focus on their individual relationships to God rather than relying on the words of ministers. Check out "New England Settlement" in Shmoop History to learn more about Ann.