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How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Diction In The Scarlet Letter

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In The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne, Hawthorne uses diction to characterize John Wilson. Hawthorne begins by talking about the malevolent John Wilson by calling him a culprit. An older meaning of culprit is the cause of a problem or defect. Going with this, Hawthorne begins this passage by stating John Wilson is the cause of the problem. Later in this passage Pearl, Hester’s child, begins wailing and screaming. After that Hawthorne states, “In this state, the voice of the preacher thundered remorselessly.” (Hawthorn 57). A different denotative meaning of thundered would be raising your voice in a way to criticize or denounce. Here John Wilson is disdainful and judgmental towards Hester and her sinful choices. While his voice was thundering,
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