The flaws in human nature will not allow people to establish an agreed upon law regarding the death penalty. People on either side being for, or against the killing of another human, has been a debate longer than we know. As far back as the seventeenth century people have not known how to enforce the killing of another human, and this is a key conflict in the novel The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The author introduces the character Hester Prynne who continually battles the laws set in her Puritan Society. She has committed a crime of adultery which calls for the father of her child to be put to death. However this law is unjust and does not show how people should be treating each other. This is why the father of Hester Prynne’s child should not be put to death for his crime. …show more content…
In the novel, an unnamed man has committed a crime punishable by death in his society. While all crime should be prosecuted, “The killing of one human being as a punishment for another makes no sense and is inherently immoral” (“Execution” Quindlen). Human beings while imperfect should remain able to live a full and fair life. Despite committing a crime within the Puritan law, the unnamed father is being immorally and unfaithfully put to death. Some disagree with this however, because there were laws in place that stated this was a severe crime that was punishable by death. When crimes are committed punishments must be executed. In Hester’s case, she has committed adultery and, “has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (Hawthorne 49). Even though it goes against biblical and legal justifications the killing of another human is inherently