How Did Prynne Take Responsibility In The Scarlet Letter

Taking Responsibility The Scarlett Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written in 1800 but takes place in the 1600s. This novel is basically talking about two grown adults named Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne both commit adultery, but only Prynne takes all the blame and responsibilities of everything. Dimmesdale is a reverend at a church and he is too scared to announce that he has sinned; he is afraid of what they will say about him or do to him. Prynne and Dimmesdale also have a daughter named Pearl who is called an imp because of her actions. For example, in this novel, Dimmesdale still has not spoken up about sinning; he continues to punish himself instead of taking responsibility and admitting his crime. This is illustrated

This scarlet letter is his mark” (Hawthorne 168). Hester is explaining how she has seen the Black Man and/or the Devil for her mistakes; she knows what she has gotten herself into. She understands that she has to take responsibility for her actions and that sinning was also partially her fault. Even though Reverend Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are putting all the weight on her shoulders, she still continues to stand tall walking through the town and talking to other people. Hawthorne said at the beginning of the book that, “Man had marked this women’s sin by a scarlet letter, which had such a potent a disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her save it were sinful like herself” (Hawthorne 81). Nathaniel Hawthorne is explaining the responsibilities that Hester has bestowed upon herself, saying that no one felt bad for Prynne because they thought that she deserves it; they think that all the sinning that was committed in this book was all her fault. Even when Dimmesdale confessed his sins they still thought he was the greatest man alive, they still wanted to be buried next to him. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne strengthens the theme of taking responsibility, through Hester