Moral Consequences Of Sin In The Scarlet Letter

Moral Consequences of Sin William Shakespeare once said, “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne shows the moral consequences of sin are being in outcast in society and punishing oneself. Hawthorne tells the reader the only ways for one to be redeemed is to help others or owning up to their own mistakes. As a result of making mistakes, everyone should do some kind of virtue to redeem oneself. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne wants the reader to know that the only ways to redeem oneself from making such substandard mistakes are too help others or confess to what they have done.

The act of adultery is a crime against the individual, that individual being the wrong husband or wife. But, adultery

Society does not penalize him because the social order does not know of the sin that he has committed. He is a greater offender than Hester because, to the offense of adultery, he adds the sin of concealment or hypocrisy. His double standard saves him from social censure or any other form of societal action. Had society come to know his crime, it would have sentenced him to death. Dimmesdale is the victim of his conscience only, “He had striven to put a cheat upon himself by making the avowal of a guilty conscience”(136). Dimmesdale's conscience not only allows him no peace, but is a source of constant torment to him. He is constantly haunted by a sense of his own guilt. Concealing his mistake for as long serves only to intensify his misery. He undergoes various kinds of penance, including vigils, fasts, and flagellation. Soon after his forest interview with Hester, he hardens himself and determines to make a public confession of his sin. Dimmesdale is redeemed by owning up to his own mistakes, “Even thus much of truth would save me”(183). He carries out his resolves to unburden his heart, and in a few minutes, meets his end on the scaffold. This incident is the climax of his spiritual development. He confesses his guilt and gives away his life, but he has established his right to a place in heaven by virtue of his act of genuine confession. As Hawthorne points out, a man like Dimmesdale should not commit a crime