A Perception of Sin: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

In essence, there were three main sins committed in The Scarlet Letter, the sins of Hester, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth committed the greatest sin because he let himself be ruled by hatred and the consuming desire for vengeance.  The overpowering vengeance and hatred felt by Chillingworth caused his life to be centered on demeaning Dimmesdale and tormenting him until the end of time.  Both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale committed sins for which they were deeply remorseful, Roger Chillingworth, however, committed the greater sin because he felt no guilt.

The very scarlet letter from which the novel’s name is derived from is a symbol of sinning; the scarlet letter represents how Puritan society views sinning as unforgivable and something for public speculation. Hester is punished by wearing hers out for the world to see. The letter is “so fantastically embroidered” that one townswoman argues that its intricacy and design defeat the entire purpose of wearing it. The scarlet letter serves as an

Throughout, “The Scarlet Letter,” Hawthorne is able to enhance the plot by intricately incorporating symbols which represent a deeper meaning. One of which, is the infamous, and ambiguous, scarlet letter that lays upon the bosom of Hester Prynne. In the beginning of the book, the audience is immediately introduced to the scarlet letter as a symbol of shame and adultery. The narrator describes the Puritan society as very judgemental and harsh. Comments like, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die,” creates this negative and unwelcoming atmosphere which surrounds Hester for a majority of the book. From then on, the Puritans constantly refer to the

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist who wrote many novels and short stories who was born on July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He originally had his last name as Hathorne - without the ‘w’ – but changed it due to not wanting to draw attention from his ancestor John Hathorne who was the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials. Nathaniel Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody in 1842 and had three kids. They ended up moving all around Massachusetts but then they finally decided that they’d settle in Concord, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first novel written is called Fanshawe in 1837. Hawthorne wasn’t sure how he felt about it, so he published it anonymously. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the novel was criticized heavily

Shakespeare once said, “If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul.” In the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, a young woman named Hester Prynne was just that. Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a story of a young woman named Hester, who commits adultery, and how she struggles to raise a daughter, and keep her lover from judgement. In the Puritan society, honorable sin was not a possibility. Throughout the book, characters deal with consequences for their actions that change their views on how they should deal with problems. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth, the main characters, all have consequences for their sins. In the book sin changes the characters’ personalities, choices, and actions.

In the Puritan society, the Scarlet Letter represents the Puritan’s view on the "sin of adultery" that Hester has committed in her life. However, Hawthorne shows throughout the novel that the Scarlet Letter evolved to be a potent symbol of Hester’s identity. The scarlet letter "A" again was originate to represents adultery, however it also represents rebellion against the puritan culture. Hester's attachment to the scarlet letter isolates her from the puritan’s society but it allows her to have freedom on her beliefs and actions as quote “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom” (Hawthorne). Later when she believes her relationship with the town minister, Dimmesdale is pure base on her 'free will’; she separates her 'free will' against the Puritan definition of 'sin'. As a result, it is a symbol of Hester's pride and burden. Because of this, Hester was forced to carry the scarlet letter of which she later accept the letter and the identity that it has placed upon her as quote, “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness... Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods... The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne). Overall, her sin teaches her a lesson while obstructs her at the same

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around sin and punishment.  The main characters of the novel sharply contrast each other in the way they react to the sin that has been committed

To begin, the scarlet letter had lost its meaning over the course of time. “Then, also, the blameless purity of her life during all these years in which she had been set apart to infamy was reckoned largely in her favor.” (Chapter XIII) The author’s purpose is to call attention to the Puritan’s weak shaming system. For example, if the person being subjected to the humiliation does not draw attention to them self, the villagers will lose interest in the crime; this allows the villagers a healing time. In Hester’s case the people were able to see her in a new light. “Such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do and power to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification. They said that it meant “Able”; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s

Hester Prynne was seen as the embodiment of sin by the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her act of adultery seemed to be the highest crime of all, and she was punished daily for it. As if it was not enough to be sentenced to a full day of constant humiliation in the presence of every citizen of the colony, they assured that she would live through it again daily by attaching a scarlet letter “A,” representing the adulteress she was, to her chest. Though Hester Prynne suffered greatly for her sin, her punishment and the actions she took afterward reflected the beliefs, particularly surrounding sin, and ethics that were hidden in the Puritan society in which she lived.

In the novel, Hawthorne demonstrates how sin alters one’s minds and thought. Dimmesdale’s violation of the moral law creates remorse, grief and horror within his mind. While contemplating during his nightly vigil, the reverend's mind was suddenly struck by guilt. And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiration, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with great horror of his mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart.

Overall, sin can change the view of many lives, some for the better or some for the worse. The novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts three forms sin can affect someone: hatred, guilt, and wisdom. Through hatred people's lives can become malicious, like Chillingworth’s consistent revenge. Guilt is show in the way Dimmesdale responds to not telling the town what he did. Wisdom is displayed through the actions of Hester. She sees that everyone conceals sin in their lives. Sin changes the lives of many people, not just the few people involved, but the people all around the

This novel was written in the 1800’s, but it is based off a town in the 1600’s. The author is Nathaniel Hawthorne, and his novel is called, The Scarlet Letter. It’s about a puritan town in North America, a lot of Hawthorne’s novels have to do with puritanism due to his obsession with it. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Pearl, the scarlet letter itself, and the burrs contribute to the overall theme of sin. First of all, Hawthorne uses the character Pearl to contribute to the theme of sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, focuses the majority of the book on sin and the effects of sin on the protagonist's daily lives throughout the book. This standard essentially goes with the Puritan ideals with punishment. The main protagonist, Hester Prynne, is the primary target for these harsh effects. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the novel The Scarlet Letter to appeal to the Puritanical ideals of this era, mainly the idea of sin because of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the other two main protagonists of the novel, and their encounters with the punishments they endured.

The scarlet letter could also be looked as a quality of Hester's character. This quality defined the views of the townspeople regarding Hester, and in time also changed in meaning. It was at the beginning of the book that the letter embroidered on her bosom only stood for adultery, and the common consensus of the people, in respects to Hester's actions, was "this woman has shamed us all and ought to die" (50). In time, and through the actions of Hester Prynne, the letter 'A' upon her chest was understood to be something different, and "many people refused to interpret the

The Scarlet Letter is a modern classic of American literature written about controversy and published with controversy. The main topic of the book, adultery, is written in a dark and sad way, as Hawthorne describes injustice, fate or predetermination and conscience ( Van Doren, 1998) . No other American novel of the time has such a controversial theme as Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter. The setting of Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is the seventeenth century Puritan New England. But Hawthorne's writing for this book is heavily influenced by his own nineteenth century culture. Hawthorne strongly believed in Providence. Hawthorne was descended from the Puritan