The Hypocrisy Of Hester Prynne's View Of Sin

This is the first big example of a sinful action mentioned in the book, setting the tone for the view of sin. The comments made by several of the women in the crowd demonstrate how self-righteous they are. Their brashness sets the reader up with an idea of the attitude of the general community. When Hester is on the scaffold, a stranger, Chillingworth, asks someone what she did and receives this reply, “You must needs be a stranger in this region, friend, else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne, and her evil doings. She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale's church” (58). Even though she has been the subject of sinful actions and wicked talk for last chapter and a half, there is still

“Goodwives, I'll tell ye a piece of my mind. It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!” (49). “He looked like the darkly engraved portraits which we see prefixed to old volumes of sermons; and had no more right than one of those portraits would have, to step forth, as he now did, and meddle with a question of human guilt, passion, and anguish” (62). “Hester Prynne, I have striven with my young brother here, under whose preaching of the word you have been privileged to sit” (62). Through the exposure of their wicked doings, Hawthorne reveals the ever-present hypocrisy within the

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, there are so many people who are so quick to judge others and their actions before even considering all the things that they have done themselves, which are often worse than the actions of those who they judge. That is one of the biggest ways in which the book is still relevant today. Another aspect of the book that is applicable to today’s society is that while most of today’s churches may not be as hypocritical as the Puritan community in Hawthorne’s novel, there are many of them that present themselves as being much more righteous than they actually are. Nathaniel Hawthorne proves that even teachers and leaders have secret sin by displaying how guilt affects an individual that is living a lie. Even though it was written 200 years ago, The Scarlet Letter is a book that is still relevant today. Its commentary on hypocrisy in the church, hidden sin, and the illusion of righteousness have stood the test of time and are applicable to life today. By showing the manifestation of guilt, sin, and hypocrisy everywhere in the world, Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter is a testament to the continuous draining effects they have on