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From the beginning of their existence, humans have been destined to make mistakes. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates a tale of sin, evil, guilt, and shame, but also a story of failure. This juxtaposition of themes highlights not only mankind’s imperfection but its strength in the face of defeat. Hawthorne demonstrates the notion of man’s tendency to make errors, but still the power of resilience through the fallen withering yellow leaves on the forest floor.
Why is it that cheating in a relationship was first thought of? Cheating is immoral because it involves breaking our word, it almost always involves lying. It's as if we're breaking a promise and commitment to our partner. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne during the romanticism period. Takes place in the 1600's where puritans are residing in a village and a woman called Hester Prynne commits a serious crime, named adultery.
The world is a very judgmental place. Imagine a world where we all had to wear a sign stating our worst faults. It is hard enough to go through a day without being judged or feeling alone and nobody even knows our worst faults. The world would be a very interesting and harsh place to live if everybody knew our sins. It is hard to know if there would be more or less judgement coming from other people because of the signs we would have to wear.
There are a limited amount of things on this earth that are inevitable obstacles and one of those is sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote an interesting story called “A Chapter from an Abortive Romance,” that sin plays a significant role in. In this story, the main character, Ethan Brand, was a lime burner that recently returned to his home city from a quest to find the unpardonable sin. (The word “unpardonable” suggests that one commits a sin that is so despicable that this sin is unforgivable by God.)
Mahatma Gandhi, a civil rights activist, once stated, “I do not seek redemption for the consequences of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself. Until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be relentless.” Gandhi, similarly to Hawthorne, believed that sin had to be penanced and redeemed in order to learn from a misdeed, and hopefully, not to be repeated. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, clearly integrated his opinion on sin through his writing.
“Nature could pity and be kind to him.” Outside the rusted prison door, a symbolism of death and contemn, lives a wild rose bush. Although the great pines and oaks have fallen, it has managed to preserve its beauty. One might say it preserves its beauty for the criminals walking by to face their punishments. Within Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, many symbols are used to disguise both the personal and religious beliefs during the 17th century; Among the various symbols, the scarlet rose bush is one of the most significant.
As the story progresses, it is apparent that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl. As a an important member of the Church, he conceals his sin in an attempt to make it to go away. Unfortunately for him, the concealment of his sin takes a toll on his mental and physical health. He becomes a manic-depressive. Not only had he committed adultery, he also was being a hypocrite, as reverend calling for the acceptance of your sins.
Hester Prynne is seen as the unlawfully convicted by being burdened with the scarlet A, but does the punishment fit the crime? Hester Prynne did indeed commit adultery, but the burden of the letter A on her chest caused more harm than good. For example, the townspeople would gossip, insult, and even preach, about her while she was at church, just passing by, even while her child was present. The Puritans are so hypocritical that they claim how holy they are, but are so hateful. Many would argue and say that The Puritans did give Hester a 2nd chance by giving her the scarlet A, but that caused Hester
The Hidden Sin and The Revealed Sin As humans, we live in the that are brimming with sins and evil desire. As the creator of all the creatures, God, sent his only son to save the people from the control of devil. The only thing we have to do is to acknowledge our mistake. Bible teach us that we should tell the truth to God and your neighbors, and God will forgive you. But people are worse, they not only hide the sin and their evil behaviors but also try to deny it.
Many readers notice Hester’s surprising reaction to the life she has come to face and the punishments placed upon her. The audience is able to determine that Hester has come to terms with her punishments beginning to accept them. However the narrator clearly establishes that many of the people closest to Hester were the ones inflicting the most guilt onto Hester’s life. Pearl the product of her sin and Roger Chillingworth the man she cheated on both impact Hester’s life the most. Imposing an immense amount of pain and guilt in Hester’s life in similar ways due to the fact that they are a constant reminder of the mistakes Hester has made.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is heavily centered on showing diverse ways the Puritan people could face guilt and sin. As the plot develops, the four main characters: Hester Prynne, Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingsworth, all reach individual climaxes by dealing with the effects of guilt and sin differently. Hester confronts the guilt of adultery head on by flagrantly wearing a scarlet letter on her chest, Pearl deals with guilt and sin by being a living symbol of Hester’s egregious offense, Arthur Dimmesdale confronts the guilt of sin privately which leads to mental instability, and Roger Chillingsworth faces guilt and sin by being consumed by the darkness it causes. There are several climaxes in The Scarlet Letter due to the main characters facing the central conflict, the effects of guilt and sin, in various ways.
Hypocrisy is defined as the practice of claiming to have moral standards of beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform. Multiple characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter clearly fit this definition. The characters of the novel are forced into hypocrisy to satisfy the expectations of society and to avoid their fear of living the rest of their lives with ignominy. The characters are often times hypocritical without realizing they are.
Put your mind to the general welfare of the population of this town. If people were to move on from the unnecessarystress and anxiety that the "sinful" woman has caused, our town could achieve peace! Hence, it is imperative that the lady Hester's current punishment of strict jailtime be repealed and the consequences that the scarlet letter itself holds be our justice. In essence, it is important to look at both of the consequential punishments in question; from an outside perspective. The true matter of importance here is the people's welfare.
Scarlet Letter In the Novel The Scarlet Letter by, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in the 1800’s, takes place in the 1600’s during puritan times. Puritanism is the believe that everyone is naturally born evil. Hawthorne teaches a lot of lessons threw symbolism. Symbolism is when the author makes a person or object have a deeper meaning.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American author and anti-transcendentalist alive in the 1800’s. As an anti-transcendentalist, Hawthorne believed that a person is naturally evil and society is good. Being the great nephew of John Hathorne, one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials, he became obsessed with puritan society. The puritans were against all earthly possessions, wanting it to be hell on earth, so they could go to heaven. The Scarlet Letter is set in the 1600’s in a puritan society.
