Sin In The Scarlet Letter

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Sin, in the eyes of many, can only bring a person shame and misery; only few could possibly see sin as a blessing from God. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author presents sin as a fine line between good and evil, meaning it could be viewed as either one. Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, two lovers that share a single crime, are able to develop their own opinions of themselves, each other, and society as they strive to continue living on with guilt in their hearts. In The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne introduces the idea that sin can be both a curse and a blessing by using various devices like symbolism and diction to describe how the characters in the novel experience purity and sin. Ever since …show more content…
In Chapter 11 “The Interior of a Heart”, Hawthorne uses diction to portray the internal conflict raging within Dimmesdale. Oblivious to the tortures that he suffers from internally, the Puritans see only a minister they refer to as “the godly youth” and “the saint on earth”, so holy and otherworldly that they all wish for some of his infinite purity, “their old bones should be buried close to their young pastor’s holy grave” (Hawthorne, 128). Meanwhile, the “saint on earth” sinks deeper into the mud of guilt because his sin is mistaken for purity that he did not deserve, “the agony with this public veneration tortured him!” (Hawthorne, 128). Despite all the dark feelings he has about his curse, however, Dimmesdale does reflect on how his sin has given him the otherworldly understanding of mankind that had made him so popular with the Puritans, “this very burden it was that gave him sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind; so that his heart vibrated in unison with theirs” (Hawthorne, 128). Hawthorne illustrates how sin is both a curse and a blessing to Dimmesdale by using diction and words that invoke passionate feelings like “public veneration” and “vibrated in
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