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Hester's Sin Exposed In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Puritan laws were extremely rigid and the members of society were expected to follow a strict moral code. Due to this fact, anything that was believed to go against this code was considered a sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter looks into the life of a Puritan family. The mother with the name of Hester committed adultery with the minister named Dimmesdale and had a girl named Pearl. For their punishment they both must have a scarlet letter “A” either sewn into their clothes or into their body at all time. Hester’s real husband does not know the sin Hester committed until he returns from being held captive by Indians. Hester’s real husband Roger Chillingworth spends 7 years trying to get revenge on Hester and Dimmesdale. Throughout the novel both Hester and Dimmesdale go through the challenge of confessing to their sin. The moral consequences they have to face depends on the way they try to deal with their sins. Hawthorne thinks that hiding your sins overall has a huge negative effect on the sinner. At the beginning of the novel when Hester’s sin is revealed she becomes an outcast in the community and judged by many. Hawthorne writes, “she …show more content…

Since Hester confessed and accepted her own sin she didn't have to live in Guilt like Dimmesdale. Hester does all she can to be accepted by the community and eventually her hard work pays off. At the beginning of the novel she was looked at very negatively and through the work she did she became accepted by the community. Dimmesdale on the other hand concealed his sin to himself throughout the novel. His guilt build up to the point where it made him mentally and morally ill. Finally he decided to open up with Hester and that revived his energy. Although they may have committed a sin, the confession of their sins helped the Puritans accept them in the community and live lives without guilt and

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