Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Characters lose their innocence throughout American literature. What exactly does “losing their innocence” mean? Losing one’s innocence can be seen as a character maturing. A character may lose his/her innocence in ways including the viewing of a traumatic event, especially one that will scar his/her life forever. Losing one’s innocence can also be caused by losing one’s trust in someone whom he/she once trusted, catching a glimpse into the “real world”, or performing an act of immorality. The recurring theme of loss of innocence, as seen throughout American literature and reality, can affect a person and the people around him/her both negatively and positively. As a result, the audience can see the character mature through losing hope of dreams, becoming an outcast of society, gaining a new perspective of ideas, or gaining confidence. Negative and positive effects falling onto characters as a result of a loss of innocence can be found in works such as The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and The Hunger Games; this theme can also be seen in real life through the effects of children exposed to violent video games.

The tone of the first chapter of “The Scarlet Letter” foreshadows judgement. It foreshadows judgement because it is already speaking about the ways of Boston and Puritans. It is also a cold tone because they are talking about how aged the prison looks and the development of a cemetery so early in Boston. It is somber and gloomy because the people themselves are wearing boring colored clothing and on one side of the prison it is ugly. It also illustrates a dreadful tone because that era in Boston never had a youthful feeling to it because of all the rules the Puritans had and how “it all pertains to crime.”

According to the Urban Online Dictionary, Moral Ambiguity can be defined as “Lack of clarity in ethical decision-making. That is, when an issue, situation, or question has moral dimensions or implications, but the decidedly “moral” action to take are unclear, either due to conflicting principles, ethical systems, or situational perspectives.

In this passage fits into the novel of adding to the plot line and character development due to the fact it plays on the theme of blame. Dimmesdale is really trying to get it through Hester’s head that he wants the blame where it belongs. He believes the blame need to be on him. However, she for some reason she refuses to place it on him. You can’t help but just wonder why? Why in the world would she let it get to this where it doesn’t matter if the right person shall get blamed? Is there some sort of reason why she wants to protect him? Is she trying to prove a point? Is it worth it when you are probably the most hated in community from

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of two equally guilty sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and shows how both characters deal with their different forms of punishment and feelings of remorse for what they have done. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are both guilty of adultery, but have altered ways of performing penance for their actions. While Hester must pay for her sins under the watchful eye of the world around her, Reverend Dimmesdale must endure the heavy weight of his guilt in secret. It may seem easier for Reverend Dimmesdale to live his daily life since he is not surrounded by people who shun

Let us gather here today as one- not as a group, but as a family.We all stand here today on a level scaffold. Many of you remember me as a nefarious citizen that stood on this here scaffold several years ago. Those who do not already know me, I am Hester Prynne- I have migrated from Amsterdam in hopes of coming to the New World, and in my past I have committed a terrible infraction. I am forever enduring the consequences for engaging in an act of adultery seven years ago. Although, 25% percent of those who have committed adultery go unnoticed and their only punishment is taking their guilt to the grave. There is a sinner among all of us. I am not here to justify the sin I have exerted, I am here to bring to a greater understanding that everyone here has sinned- whether or not you have dealt with the consequences that come along with sinning is dependent on if your community perceives it as a sin.

Hawthorne, Author of The Scarlet Letter, criticizes that the style of punishment used by the Puritan Religion was radical, inhumane, and cold. He argues that the outcome of their punishments' was damaging to the characters and their personality. However, this accusation is false. The punishments although seemingly inhumane, caused positive outcomes for all three characters Hester Prynne, Pearl Prynne, and Arthur Dimmesdale.

Guilt is an emotion that everyone experiences. Depending on what a person does, it can affect them in a way that could change them forever. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne discusses how Hester and Dimmesdale had a baby together. Hester is already a married woman and Dimmesdale is a leader in the church. Hester has since been punished to wear a scarlet letter that shows her sin. This leads her to become guilty and Dimmesdale as well because he hasn’t admitted his sin. Hawthorne analyzes guilt and how Hester has a different outcome when she admits it than Dimmesdale who doesn’t. Some outcomes are better than the other and it’s not always in the way that one expects.

   Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates

In Puritan society adultery is among the worst of sins. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is about a young woman named Hester Prynne who breaks the strict moral code of the Puritan society. She commits the sin of adultery with a Puritan minister named Arthur Dimmesdale and has a baby with him named Pearl. However, only she confesses the sin and suffers the consequences, wearing a scarlet “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. Nathaniel Hawthorne The theme of sin manifests itself in Hester who sins against human and natural law and Chillingworth who sins against natural law. The theme of sin is portrayed through the symbol of arthur dimmesdale’s guilt. Roger chillingworth throughout the novel seeks redemption for his wife’s lover. Hawthorne uses Pearl as a symbol of sin and redemption in the novel, which begins from her

Yes, I believe that they are forgiven. To be forgiven you have to forgive yourself first. At the end of the scarlet letter they all forgave there self. Everyone has sinned at least once. It doesn’t matter if the sin was big or small. You're forgiven if you forgive yourself.

To conclude, The Scarlet Letter is a novel of how confession is the only remedy for the guilt that comes with committing a sin. In this respect, both The Scarlet Letter and the King James Proverb are in complete agreement as to that confession leads to redemption. While the proverb only states this concept, The Scarlet Letter, by contrast, detailed an elaborate story portraying how confession gave the characters of Hester and eventually Dimmesdale their own salvation. Hester’s salvation came in the form of the change of the public perception of the scarlet letter. Many citizens after Hester’s confession and performance of good deeds began to believe that the scarlet letter now stood for “Able”, and some even believing that the letter be removed

The aching feeling of regret, the looming cloud of hate and disgust, the nearing pendulum of compunction- the innate feeling by the name of guilt has no boundaries. All humankind, regardless of gender, race, or age have experienced some form of guilt. This, guilt, leads to a yearning desire for forgiveness, for some type of punishment that will rid the feeling. Hester Prynne and Sir Arthur Dimmesdale, both main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, epitomize the traumatizing consequences that ensue when one allows themselves to be inundated by guilt due to their sin frowned upon. The puritan society that both Hester and Dimmesdale are forced to reside in is essential to one of the novel's major symbols. Primitive to the puritan way of life is that sin is wrong, and a connection with god is the goal.

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the theme of “guilt” is prevalent and important; it is heavy and unrelenting in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s where the story is based. None of the main characters seem exempt from it, including Hester Prynne, the main protagonist and wearer of the scarlet letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s beloved minister and, later revealed, fellow adulterer, and Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband who lives under a pseudonym as the town’s doctor. Each one of them has a cross that they bear, influenced and made worse by the strict Puritan ways of the townspeople and each other, and the sins and regrets that torment them. Even worse, not only does guilt torment one emotionally

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about the Puritan society in America during the mid seventeenth century. He uses the development of main characters Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl and Chillingworth to demonstrate that people cannot convey a façade to society without temporarily or permanently losing sight of who they are at heart.