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Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

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Guilt is the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime. We all have quilt weather it be from something we did or just having a nervous conscious. Guild is something that all human beings have and or will have to deal with. Hawthorne did a good job describing different scenes with how guilt was affecting the character at a specific time. In The Scarlet Letter, guilt is found variously throughout the book. Hawthorne uses guild to show the effect it has on certain characters and how they cope with it. Hester carries her guilt with her throughout the entire book. From the beginning of the story it was apparent she was carrying such stressful weight with her. “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with …show more content…

Throughout the book everyone had quilt of their own, everyone got it out in different ways. For example when Dimmesdale was on the scaffold basically crying for help from Hester he said “Come up hither, Hester, thou and little Pearl…. Ye have both been here before, but I was not with you. Come up hither once again, and we will stand all three together!” Hawthorne (12:140). This was the first step in releasing his own personal guilt. Dimmesdale felt terrible for the fact that he did not confess at the beginning of the book so he thought he would apologize now for all he had made them go through. This was not all that Dimmesdale had to do, it was building up to his public confession. Dimmesdale had announced that he was truly the father of Pearl and he admitted to be the other adulter. After doing so Hester had a very heavy weight taken off herself, and later on people started to appreciate her again. At the sight of Hester people would rejoice and would say “Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? They would say too the strangers. “It is our Hester the town's own Hester, who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!” Hawthorne (13). This was all a very special gift to Hester, once being the towns shun now being known for her heroic deeds. Hester transformed into someone everybody learned to love, her prayers had been answered. “Heaven would show mercy” rejoined Hester, “Hadst thou but the strength to take advantage of it” Hawthorne

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1928 Words | 8 Pages

they would say to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, the town’s own Hester, who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick…”(147) Through her benevolent deeds over the years, Hester had managed to merge herself into the society that once scorned her. They no longer speaks badly of her, but would instead brag about her kind and caring nature to strangers. The most obvious change in their perception of Hester also lies in the reinterpretation of the letter “A” on her chest, which would now signify Able, resembling the strength of her heart.

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511 Words | 3 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester to create the theme of reputation by presenting her as a woman whose reputation was ruined by an extramarital affair. She endures being forced to stand on a scaffold while holding her newborn babe, while villagers gossip below. "You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend," answered the townsman, looking curiously at the

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1153 Words | 5 Pages

This shows how ungrateful and judgemental her society is. All things considered, through these many skills Hester accomplishes, the meaning of the scarlet letter, embroidered on her chest, changes in meaning from ‘adulterer’ to ‘able.’ This eventually leads to women looking up to her and going to her for advice. As a result, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Hawthorne 257). Hester’s experiences living with society, as they looked down upon her, eventually changes the way society looks at people and the choices they make.

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1423 Words | 6 Pages

As he takes his last breaths in Hester's arms, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale exclaims, “God knows; and He is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost for ever”. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is tormented endlessly by remorse and the repression of his sin. Because of this, in his final moments, he is driven to reveal to the townspeople that he is the father of Pearl, finally relieving the guilt he burdened himself with for seven years.

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1368 Words | 6 Pages

During the time at which the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written, people were help to higher standards regarding what was viewed as acceptable in a society, mostly shown through religious moral standards. Hawthorne was also able to show the effects of guilt specifically during that time, following a sin that was seen as completely unacceptable in this society, and how it would affect someone in their life, especially if kept private. Hawthorne uses literary devices to show how private guilt causes more personal damage than public guilt and how it can become an everlasting punishment. Through the use of diction, Hawthorne is able to show how private guilt causes more personal damage and can have a great internal punishment

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1211 Words | 5 Pages

He hated himself for falling into Chillingworth’s trap, it made him disheveled in appearance and caused him to go have bipolar type mood swings. He had changed so much since Hester’s public opinion on the scaffolding, because at that time he had scolded her in front of everyone and spoke that she was doing everything wrong, but he later says that she is doing everything right with her daughter. He also speaks of how God's will was following what Hether was doing. Dimmesdale had a lot of hatred for himself for that day, he even secretly admits that Pearl was an example of both the fathers self hatred and guilt and the mothers, “‘...This child of it's father’s guilt and it’s mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart…”

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791 Words | 4 Pages

Although the community originally knew Hester as a disgrace, the town’s opinion of her changed over time as she began to do work for the poor and needy. After this shift in the town’s view of Hester, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet [letter] by its original signification” (111). Instead of Hester’s scarlet letter serving as a reminder of her scandalous sin, her peers “ had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as a token . . . of [Hester’s] many good deeds” (111). She became known for her charity and generosity, which caused the civilians to overlook her sinful behavior.

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1213 Words | 5 Pages

This shows that Hester does not necessarily need to worry about what the people of Boston think of her or how she needs to redeem herself in order to fit back into the society. When Hawthorne says “The angel and apostle of the coming revelation must be a woman, indeed, but lofty, pure, and beautiful; and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy; and showing how sacred love should make us happy, by the truest test of a life successful to such an end!” he is showing how there is no way for Hester to change her society. She should have love and joy, but instead she is faced with guilt, which leads to her downfall. Along with this, Hawthorne demonstrates how the people of Boston are actually the sinners while Hester and Dimmesdale represent the Angel and the Saint of the city.

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1980 Words | 8 Pages

(73 Hawthorne) Hester accepted her decision and all the consequences that came with it going as far to say “here..had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment.” (74 Hawthorne) Her guilt also motivated her to make the best of her situation by doing what she can. “[She] incurred no

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857 Words | 4 Pages

In this section Hawthorne is showing what Hester should have done and why it led to his negative feelings towards

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535 Words | 3 Pages

The topics in The Scarlet Letter reflect the character’s physical and emotional health. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale both share attributes that represent the topics of guilt, but display guilt in their own way. Hester and Dimmesdale display guilt based off their physical appearance. Body language exposes internal problems, emotions, and deep secrets. The characters expose themselves by releasing secrets unintentionally.

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665 Words | 3 Pages

She is a beautiful, young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne portrays Hester as "divine maternity" and she can do no wrong. Not only Hester, but also the physical scarlet letter, a sign of shame, is shown as a beautiful, gold and colorful piece which

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719 Words | 3 Pages

The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”

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147 Words | 1 Pages

Butterflies flud my stomach, as I climbed up the lengthy branch. A thought of doubt pondered through my head, should I, or should I not? I pushed the thought to the side and continued on, not thinking of the worst. Before a loud snap broke the silence as I tumbled towards the ground in a tangle of limbs, my breath rushed inward, as fast as my realization. The snapping echoed through my head, stuck on repeat like a broken cassette.

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936 Words | 4 Pages

The hypocritical society is blinded by how they should punish Hester that they are not showing kindness to Hester. Hawthorne creates the book to show how an individual spirit must overcome the difficult obstacles in the society cultural

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