“A paradox is a statement that seems to be contradictory but that actually presents a truth.” (Wiggins R30)
The caption to this picture of Pinocchio reads “My nose will grow now!” It ends up being a paradox because although it seems to be contradictory, there is truth behind what Pinocchio is saying. If he says his nose will grow, and it doesn't, then he is lying, which means his nose will grow either way. His nose will grow even if he is telling the truth in this situation.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a paradox when describing the intentions of the first founders of the new Puritan land. “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne 35). Hawthorne uses a paradox here to show how the Puritans wanted to create this utopia of happiness, but they were also going to create room for a cemetery and a prison. This brings light to both sides of what is going to happen in this new colony, both good and bad. The reader can see the true intentions of the Puritans even though the quote seems to contradict itself.
In The Minister's Black Veil, Hawthorne describes the ending scene with a paradox; “When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (Hawthorne 284). Here, nobody but the minister is actually wearing a veil, but he points out that everyone hides behind a black veil like his. The minister points out with this paradox that every person has a black veil to hide behind, a secret that they don't tell anyone else. Because the paradox is surprising, it causes the reader to think about it and come to the conclusion of a deeper meaning.
The caption to this picture of Pinocchio reads “My nose will grow now!” It ends up being a paradox because although it seems to be contradictory, there is truth behind what Pinocchio is saying. If he says his nose will grow, and it doesn't, then he is lying, which means his nose will grow either way. His nose will grow even if he is telling the truth in this situation.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a paradox when describing the intentions of the first founders of the new Puritan land. “The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison” (Hawthorne 35). Hawthorne uses a paradox here to show how the Puritans wanted to create this utopia of happiness, but they were also going to create room for a cemetery and a prison. This brings light to both sides of what is going to happen in this new colony, both good and bad. The reader can see the true intentions of the Puritans even though the quote seems to contradict itself.
In The Minister's Black Veil, Hawthorne describes the ending scene with a paradox; “When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (Hawthorne 284). Here, nobody but the minister is actually wearing a veil, but he points out that everyone hides behind a black veil like his. The minister points out with this paradox that every person has a black veil to hide behind, a secret that they don't tell anyone else. Because the paradox is surprising, it causes the reader to think about it and come to the conclusion of a deeper meaning.