Effects Of Sin In The Scarlet Letter

Words: 913

Pages: 4

Open Document

Effects of Sin- Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter has three main characters who are all connected by sin. Hawthorne shows how sin affects all of the characters in different ways, and how sin can yield suffering, but it can also make one stronger, depending on how they handle the effects of their sin. Hester Prynne is an example of someone who makes the best of her situation, while Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth both suffer as a result of sinning and they become worse in mind and body. Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale, so she was publicly humiliated in front of the entire village and forced to bear the scarlet letter upon her breast for the rest of her days as penance. Despite this, she still became a stronger person in mind, body and soul because she did not hide the fact that she committed the ignominious act of adultery, which would surely brew guilt in one who hid from the light of confession. Because Hester had confessed herself and accepted her punishment of wearing the scarlet letter, she was able to find peace because “her sin, her ignominy, were the roots which she had struck into the soil”(Hawthorne, 46). As time went on, Hester Prynne continued to live among the same Puritan community that had attempted to humiliate her, but with a higher purpose and a respectable role in the community. She no longer saw the scarlet letter as a symbol of shame, but rather, a symbol of strength. Eventually, “{the townspeople} said that {the scarlet letter} meant Abel, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength”(91). Hester Prynne made the best of a bad …show more content…
One can learn from Hester Prynne that sin does not only yield suffering for those who improve themselves, but it does indeed make those who hide behind guilt, like Dimmesdale, or the weapon of vengeance, like Chillingworth, suffer

Essay on scarlet letter

The Scarlet letter essay We have all been in troubling times in our lives some worse then others. Life is like a roller coaster it has it's ups and downs and if you've said you haven't had any bad times you probably lying well, In this story there is a girl who puts up with a lot of negativity in a town having a guilt trip put on her and this story is called The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the character Hester to illustrate that guilt impacts humans mentally and physically…

Words 534 - Pages 3

Light And Darkness In The Scarlet Letter

great novels such as The Scarlet Letter use many great symbols to bring the story to life. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols, such as Pearl, the scarlet letter, and the comparison of light and darkness to represent good and evil, as a way to show the corruption of the puritan lifestyle. Pearl in The Scarlet Letter…

Words 883 - Pages 4

What Does Red Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

of the main colors within Hawthorne’s works is red. In Hawthorne’s novels and short stories red is a meaning of sin or specifically in the The Scarlet Letter it is symbolized as adultery. “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A”(Scarlet 40). The letter “A” in The Scarlet Letter was given to Hester because of her own wrong doings. Hester was a married woman coming to America and her husband…

Words 1671 - Pages 7

Theme Of Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

him to write The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the scarlet letter, Pearl, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of guilt. To begin, Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter to contribute to the theme of guilt. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the story, committed adultery and has to wear a scarlet letter on her bosom forever. This isolates her from the townspeople. The A stands for adultery while the color scarlet stands for sex and…

Words 637 - Pages 3

symbolism of colors Essay

Symbolism of Colors Nathaniel Hawthorne in the novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850), asserts that the color red represents passion and sin, the color black represents pure evil, and the color white represents light and change in The Scarlet Letter (1850). Hawthorne supports his assertion by illustrating the colors red in diverse manners and occurrences in the story such as the red rose bush and the red Scarlet Letter, the color black through the black weeds, and the color white when the white light…

Words 1149 - Pages 5

The Scarlet Letter was written by Natha Essay

1. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the late 1850s. The genre of this novel is classified as a romance and a historical fiction. Hawthorne is seen as important to the world of literature because he was the most famous writer for the anti-transcendentalist which can best be described as a realist, he wrote over 46 stories and impacted America by showing the bad instead of the good in society. Unlike most fiction writers of his time, he was not primarily interested in stirring…

Words 914 - Pages 4

Theme Of Confession In The Scarlet Letter

life they must confess their sin first. Confessing a sin may make it seem like other people are looking badly upon you but in reality it helps your self start over and maintain happiness. Without confession, the guilt builds up and it can eventually destroy you. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne shows the effects of confessing sin and holding in guilt through the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. One person who confesses their sin in the novel is Hester Prynne…

Words 583 - Pages 3

Essay on Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter 1 Hawthorne uses the setting in Chapter one to set the mood for the story in two ways. The first is that the prison embodies the unyielding severity of puritan law: old, rusted, yet strong with an "iron-clamped oaken door." Puritan law is coated, in this account, in the rust of tradition and obsolete purpose. But despite the evolution of its modern society, the laws have not kept up. As a result, the door remains tightly shut and iron-clamped presenting a judgmental and condemning…

Words 3876 - Pages 16

The Metaphor Of A Hieroglyph In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

interpreted in many different ways. For example, the english alphabet is composed of many of the same letters as the alphabets of other languages, but depending on the language spoken by the person reading the letters, that hieroglyph…

Words 937 - Pages 4

Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

guilty. Guilt can be present in anyone; even Nathaniel Hawthorne used guilt as the main aspect of characters in his book The Scarlet Letter. A married woman, Hester Prynne, and an unmarried reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, commit a sin of passion while defying their Puritan Boston society. When Hester becomes pregnant, the people in the society condemn her, make her wear a scarlet ‘A’, and throw her in the prison, where she will stay until she leaves…

Words 859 - Pages 4