Hawthorne described three things in The Scarlet Letter. Sin, guilt, and redemption. Hawthorne uses people to symbolize them. Hester Prynne was one. Hawthorne allows the reader to get a better understanding by using biblical references.
Hester Prynne was an example of sin, guilt, and redemption. Hawthorne uses bible passages as examples. The consequences for our sins are determined by God and where we will go. Hester’s punishment is wearing the letter, ‘A’ on her breast. "God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!"- (pg 55). Hester freed herself from sin by removing The Scarlet Letter and realizing she loves Dimmesdale, with this she asks for his forgiveness and confesses. “Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!”(pg.118) Hester did a good deed when she kept Dimmesdale’s identity a secret. “I deem it not likely that he will betray the secret.He will doubtless seek
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Hawthorne described Hester’s redemption in a way of self-confidence. “She took off the formal cap that confined her hair, and down it fell upon her shoulders, dark and rich, with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance, and imparting the charm of softness to her features.” (Pg.123) A modern example connecting to Hester’s sin can be Cyber Bullying. Sin: abuse, Guilt: jail, and Redemption: apologizing/confessing. “The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine.” (Pg.33) Hawthorne allows the reader to picture examples of modern day sins using biblical passages for resulting consequences. In the end Hester’s lover died from beating himself up and never confessing for his