The_Scarlet_Letter

The Scarlet Letter All of Hawthorne’s work is one form or another of “handling sin”. All of his stories are those of persons whom some crime, or misunderstood virtue, or misfortune, has set by themselves, or in a worse companionship of solitude (Symons 1597). The Scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores sin and its consequences. The focus of attention is Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Each of these characters sin in a unique way. Hester sins by committing adultery. Dimmesdale sins by breaking his vow of chastity, and then hiding his deed. Chillingworth sins by acting upon his desire for revenge, and by torturing Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from shame and guilt throughout the novel. It was a sin for which Hester Prynne was damned by society, and for which Arthur Dimmesdale damned himself (Loring 1). Hester is made to publicly acknowledge her sin. A scarlet letter “A” is permanently placed on her dress to symbolize her adultery, and she is made to stand on the scaffold with her baby for several hours of public humiliation. This is her punishment, the heaviest that man can afflict upon her. Hester is to stand as a warning to scarlet, letter, sin, hester, hawthorne, dimmesdale, sins, man, guilt, even, through, human, god, day, yet, social, shame, revenge, reputation, publicly, own, nathaniel, moral, life, because, adultery, world, upon, teaches, symons, society, prynne, passion, made, loring