Examples Of Sin In Hand Can Redemption Be In Sight

Roger Chillingworth’s character shows evil in many ways, one of those ways is through his thoughts. From the moment he sees Hester on the scaffold he begins to plot revenge on whoever the father of Pearl is. The first meeting Hester and Chillingworth have Hester says, “Why dost thou smile so at me? [...] Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?”, then Chillingworth says, “Not thy soul, [...] No, not thine!” (Hawthorne 45). In this exchange between the once husband and wife the reader witnesses the first evil spark in Chillingworth. Every evil thought Chillingworth has stems from this moment in the story and everyone knows that thoughts generally lead to actions.

Hester Prynne -- adulteress and sinner, but also strong, courageous and kind. She lives with the first two words as her identity, with the scarlet “A” as her name tag; A reminder to everyone and herself of her sins. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Hawthorne expresses his belief that everyone has an equal potential for sin, what causes people to be different from each other is how they react to their sin. The sins committed by people can affect them differently than how it may affect another person. Sin is not something that everyone feels the same way about. Lucius Annaeus Seneca makes a point saying that: “The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin”. There is no way we can resolve our sins alone. We can only acknowledge our sin and repent; We can try to be the best versions of ourselves but sin does not just disappear. It is a daily trouble everyone’s life, sin changes every person from the individual they are supposed to be. For example, Hester accepts what she has one and tries to move on and redeem herself by helping the poor and raising her daughter. On the contrary, Chillingsworth dwells in his sins and submits to what he had done making him become dark and satan-like. He no longer can recognize admirability, he has a focused on revenge and hate. There are also people comparable to Dimmesdale, who hide their sins in shame of what they have done, unable to move on.

Thomas Watson once said, “A sinner’s heart is a common inn where all who will, may lodge; it is not a temple—but a pest house” (“Difference” 1). Watson’s quote explains that one who does immorally wrong damages their heart and soul. The public image of a sinner is tainted, but they can redeem their soul through the punishment they serve. The characters Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, exemplify this. Hester, as the main character of The Scarlet Letter, is immediately recognized for her sin of adultery as the book opens with the acknowledgement of her crime.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Protestants unhappy with the state of the church and sinful nature of humanity sought to separate themselves from the corruption in the church. They united under their beliefs and called themselves Puritans. The two beliefs outlining the Puritan way of life were: humanity is inherently evil, and God is merciful but unreachable (Kolodny 172). In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards writes with the focus of saving the audience by using the following: visual, kinetic, and tactile imagery. Edwards reminds his audience of terrible suffering promised to come at the final judgment God’s wrath on the unrighteous. He appeals to the psychological and emotional fears of the Puritans stating

Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth portray one central theme throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, which is that one must accept responsibility for their actions or suffer the consequences.

Similar to the devil, Chillingworth shows a sense of excitement, of the discovery of a new sinner, because he is now able to torture the person for eternity, rather than forgive their sins similar to a perceived holy figure. Hawthorne embodies that Chillingworth is accepting these evil feelings due to his emotions, which show a sense of commitment and attachment. Through the expression of Chillingworth's emotions and his separation from innocence, Hawthorne emphasizes that the evil within Chillingworth causes him to desire morally wrong actions, which leads to his personal obsession towards the temptation to act upon evil.

Hawthorne’s purpose in portraying Chillingworth’s vicissitude through themes of revenge was to convey the subtle and insidious effects that revenge and obsession have on an individual. By choosing to unceasingly pursue revenge Chillingworth's body and personality slowly become corrupted. Chillingworth also serves as a cautionary tale that warns the reader to be wary of the wicked webs of deceit and hate we often weave in the name of justice. Chillingworth’s inherent ambiguity adds many ways of interpreting the character. Chillingworth could also be seen as a metaphor for the 17th century Puritan church. Hawthorne used The Scarlet Letter to criticize the hypocritical machinations of the Puritan church, so Chillingworth could be seen as a metaphor for the hypocritical and unforgiving nature of the church. Hawthorne saw the Puritans as hypocritical because they claimed to be righteous and moral but yet they failed to offer even the most basic semblance of human compassion and forgive Hester for her crimes. Chillingworth serves as one of Hawthorne's many criticisms on the church because like the Puritan church Chillingworth’s character began with benevolent intentions but by the end of his transformation he became a sadistic archfiend that was overly concerned with the punishment of the crime instead spreading of forgiveness. In

Should we accept our sinful nature, or run from it? This is a question that is explored in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne through stories of Puritan society. Hawthorne creates characters that both give in to and deny sin. However, the only characters that are immovably miserable are Goodman Brown (“Young Goodman Brown) and Arthur Dimmesdale (The Scarlet Letter): those who cannot accept their sin. While Dimmesdale does eventually admit to his sin, Goodman Brown never does and lives out his life miserably. Hawthorne specifically makes characters unhappy due to their inability to admit to their own sin to demonstrate that those who do admit to their sin are far happier.

The Scarlet Letter: Suffering is a Gateway to Freedom The core of humankind is suffering, because it destroys emotional health. Suffering is painful, however, it can bring a person peace. The characters of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter go through emotional pain that it threatens to destroy them. Hawthorne begins this idea that suffering is the key to making someone free, and he makes his characters experience this suffering.

In today’s world, for the most part, punishment is utilized to force one into learning from their mistakes. However, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan society seen in the novel views punishment as fuel for permanent guilt and vengeance. Whether publicly ostracizing an individual or one’s self-castigation, punishment, along with the effect it has on its suspect, is a central theme in the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, punishment serves as a catalyst for growth, yet, also the source of depletion depending on the perseverance of the one with punishment.

In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays Chillingworth’s sadistic vengeance as more damning than Dimmesdale’s cowardly hypocrisy by his relentless revenge, his violation of a human heart, and his loss of humanity. Chillingworth devotes the rest of his lifetime to knowing the identity and to seeking vengeance on Dimmesdale. He goes as far as saying, “it is my purpose to live and die unknown” (Hawthorne 71). Chillingworth even threatens to end Dimmesdale’s life if Hester should tell anyone his true identity (Hawthorne 71).

He compares the human soul to a fortress that could be easily breached if there is even the slightest crack and guilt as an adversarial being. This mixed metaphor represents the susceptibility of a human, who has fallen to depravity and endeavors to escape from the embodiment of guilt. The image of a vulnerable citadel appeals to the reader’s senses creating a mood of fear and sorrow. However, Hawthorne’s reasoning is also logical and justified. If a person survives through a terrible trauma, he or she will never forget that incident no matter how much he or she wishes to defend his or her mind against the horrifying memory. Hawthorne portrays the same concept. A sinner cannot forget his or her crimes just by escaping because the past will inevitably return to haunt him or her. Through Hawthorne’s formal and sincere tone, he teaches the lesson of permanent guilt. He produces a reasonable and emotional viewpoint to attract the reader’s attention; therefore, he is able to accomplish his mission of convincing the reader to understand that guilt is permanent even if one doesn’t admit to it. Guilt will leave a permanent scar, but permitting oneself to salvation can slowly heal the

In their lifetime, everyone has done something wrong and felt guilt, however, what allows people to get over it often depends on to what extent they want to confess their wrongdoing as opposed to hiding behind or from it. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the values of the character Dimmesdale change over the course of the book as a result of the events he goes through. He overvalues social acceptance which causes him distress and imposes heavy guilt on his conscience but finally realizes that the only way to rid himself of that guilt and sin is to confess. Dimmesdale’s values of social acceptance and honesty change as he realizes that it is more important to honor honesty over social acceptance, demonstrating that redemption is only possible through public honesty.

Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the outcome stemming from the guilt of concealing a crime through Arthur Dimmesdale’s decaying mental and physical state in his novel The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale, the clergyman who all the townspeople thought so highly of, was the man who impregnated Hester Prynne, forcing her to wear the dreaded Scarlet Letter that signified her sin of adultery. The preacher managed to evade any ramifications from the law, but his soul was continually tortured as punishment, severely weakening him, both physically and mentally. Although he knows that he would never do so, as the weight of the sin was too much to bear, Dimmesdale remarks that standing beside Hester “on thy [Hester’s] pedestal of shame” would be a more desirable

But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?¨ (Hawthorne, 78). The quotation above reveals Chillingworth´s perspective regarding Hester. According to Chillingworth, Hester has paid for her sin of betrayal and adultery by wear the scarlet letter, which is her symbol of shame, torture, and misery. Also, Chillingworth is content about Hester's punishment because he knows that Hester will never be appealing towards other men since she hides her beauty as protection from society and the only potent aspect of Hester's character, is the scarlet letter.