Guilt Obsession Within the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathanial Hawthorne Reverend Dimmesdale drastically develops throughout the novel, from being a symbol of Puritan religion to displeasing the population of the Puritan expectations through his actions. His appearance as well as his privilege and prominence within the community alters radically. He begins the novel as the town reverend, and later, the shame of Hester accepting the entirety of the blame and the fact that he escaped with no punishment or shame from the town ultimately consumed him. Throughout the novel, it was revealed that he had a red mark on his chest in correlation to the “A” that was displayed on Hester’s chest.
The Scarlet Letter Arguement According to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the author argues that sin and suffering exists even in a utopian society. To illustrate, Hester prynne commits the sin of adultery.
In chapter 2 of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne continues to portray the critical attitude Puritans had towards sins and repentance. Through the use of symbols, he exaggeratedly exposes how far a Puritan were to repent for their sins. From the moment Hester Prynne walks outside of the gate the women and men gathered immediately begin to gossip and badmouth her, besides not knowing anything about her other than the sin she committed. As she walks to the scaffold women begin to say her punishment of wearing an “A” is too light. They state that she can easily cover it, yet a woman rebuttals and says that she will forever “feel it in her heart” .To make things worse a woman goes as far as to say that she should be scalded with the
In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses three symbols to contribute to the overall theme of sin, these three symbols are the scarlet letter, Dimmesdale and Pearl. Dimmesdale is the minister of the town, he is also the father of Pearl. Pearl is the daughter of Dimmesdale and Hester, who to are not married. Hester committed the sim of adultery with Dimmesdale by having sex while she is married, then later ended up being pregnant.. They live in a puritan society, in which if they commit a crime they have a very harsh punishment.
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Smith 1). The Bible, which is the foundation for many religions, says this about the punishment for sins in Ezekiel 18:20. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, gets punished for infidelity by the donning of a scarlet letter “A” for eternity.
The Scarlet Letter questions the human fallacy regarding sin and knowledge. The novel asks its readers whether they believe in their ability to comprehend the difference between right and wrong. Through the depiction of the prude mindset of the Puritan society - exaggerated in a way which truly emphasizes the idea of this fallacy, readers receive this question shockingly to where the message is indirectly concise, yet easily translated. Biblically, sin represents a lack of proper execution of one's knowledge.
Few sensations in the human experience stand as universal as sin. All who ever live on this Earth shall sin; and sin, with its war waging upon embattled humans roaming the earth, its pillaging and plundering the immense spectrum of human emotions, its seeping into every crevasse of the human experience, comes with an immense flurry of guilt, isolation, concealment, punishment, and consequences. With this burden of sin, all people must face this question: What happens when this sin—this horrible plague of blackness and death—overcomes an individual? In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorn delves deep into this very question of what individuals do when guilt and the isolation resulting in the concealment of sins overtakes their soul.
Mahatma Gandhi, a civil rights activist, once stated, “I do not seek redemption for the consequences of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself. Until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be relentless.” Gandhi, similarly to Hawthorne, believed that sin had to be penanced and redeemed in order to learn from a misdeed, and hopefully, not to be repeated. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, clearly integrated his opinion on sin through his writing.
In the time of Puritans, the law was not only of state but of religion. Thus, crime not only had a connection with breaking earthly law, but also committing a sin in the eyes of the heavenly law. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Scarlet Letter fulfills its office, an office of bringing her and her community closer to God, as evident by Hester’s increase in compassion and service to the community, the way in which people view her, and by the suffering which she encounters in numerous ways. The guilt felt from the Scarlet Letter leads Hester to a life as a public servant, fulfilling her penance through service.
“There are two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowns you until you’re useless, and the kind that fires your soul to purpose.” ―Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes. Similarly, two types of guilts are represented by the characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. Although the reasons are dissimilar, both Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are forced into a state of deep regret as a result of the mutual decision to keep their iniquitous hidden from the plebeians.
Sanil Chawla Ms. Nina LaRosa English 11H, Period 5 9 January 2017 Response to Sin Sin is nearly inevitable. Whether by just a lie or by a grand theft, almost everyone succumbs to sin at some time or another. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the power of sin on an individual is thoroughly examined. By contrasting Hester’s internal development that results from her persecution with Dimmesdale’s internal deterioration that results from his secrecy, Hawthorne shows that one’s response to sin has far greater effects than sin itself.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows the internal conflict mankind might experience throughout their lives. This novel outwardly speaks about the guilt many carry around, seen or not, and the struggle between doing what is right or choosing to keep quiet and protect their pride, making it a good example to use. Keeping guilt hidden inside will only do more harm than good, and that through the truth peace can be found. Allowing unresolved guilt to dig its claws into your humanity and morality only furthers the downfall of a person. This may be accounted to the fact that they are afraid of how the people around them will react, or the fear that their reputation might be completely ruined.
Can anyone be perfect or does everyone sin at some point in there lives, In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter is a fictional story about the Puritan society. Each of the main characters, Hester, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, have all sinned in the novel. Hester committed adultery, Chillingworth's sin was marrying a younger woman, which later on in the novel turns into a greater sin, and Dimmesdale's sin was committing adultery with Hester. The characters that Hawthorne uses create a parallel theme with the sin that they have committed.
There are many themes present throughout this novel but only one is truly visible in every chapter within the book. The one theme that sticks out, is sin. Sin is a huge part in puritan society back in this time. If a huge sin was committed, a public punishment must have taken place because of their beliefs. They had symbols for specific sinners, such as Hester.
Effect of Sin and the Chance of Redemption Sin is a powerful action that has an everlasting consequence of guilt. Once done, the person wants to forget about his felonious actions; however, hopefully a person’s conscience is a constant, nagging reminder. In order to be free of the constant pain, redemption is pursued for even the person who sinned in public or private. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne proves that the truth of sin eventually need to be confronted in order for a person to stop suffering.
