Guilt And Isolation In The Scarlet Letter

Guilt and isolation are outcomes of sins committed by people such as Hester and Dimmesdale in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When somebody has committed a sin that they instantly regret, the first feeling they experience is guilt. They have this constant reminder in their minds that they have done something terrible and can not undo their action. This memory could remain in someone's mind for a while and can slowly deteriorate their lives making it miserable like Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale suffers the consequences differently than any other person has in the Puritan community. He failed to confess and turn himself in for the adultery he committed with Hester. Seven years have passed and he still has the urge to torture himself

This is because they are ashamed of what people will think about them when they hear of their mistake. They do not want to be criticized and they would rather sit in silence with themselves. This is similar to Hester’s situation when she lived in a “...small thatched cottage. It had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned because because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation, while it comparative remoteness put it out of the sphere f that social activity which already out of the sphere of that social activity which already marked the habits of the emigrants” (121). Hester is living as an outcast away from society who always criticizes her. Her sin is causing her to be isolated from the rest of the community who always reminds her about the scarlet letter she wears and what it’s meaning is. This shows that sin can cause someone to want to be isolated and alone due to their sadness and pain their sin brings them. Dimmesdale and Hester present great examples of how the outcomes of sin, showing guilt and wanting isolation, are represented throughout the novel. Their actions are similar to how people would deal with their sins and mistakes