Theme Of Forgiveness In The Scarlet Letter
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the five main characters were faced with the immense challenge of forgiving the people who had committed wrongs against them. Whether those indiscretions be the sin of adultery or the act of revenge, each were equally as hard to forgive. Hester’s challenge was to forgive the townspeople. Reverend Dimmesdale needed to forgive Chillingworth. Chillingworth had to forgive Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl had to forgive Dimmesdale. Governor Bellingham had to forgive Hester. Not all of the characters could forgive the ones who wronged them. Each character took a different path when facing the burden of forgiveness. Hester was the most forgiving throughout the entire book. She was able to forgive the whole
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He had to forgive Hester for the sin, and the crime, that she had committed. The Governor was the symbol of Law and Order in the town so he set the example for everyone. Had he forgiven Hester then the townspeople would have been more willing to forgive her as well. However he did not feel as though Hester deserved forgiveness. The law was clear and she violated it, so he could not forgive. There were points throughout the story when he contemplated forgiveness, because of the way she acted and represented herself. The end result of Governor Bellingham not forgiving Hester was that she spent the rest of her life as a criminal who had to walk around branded with the Scarlet A. In conclusion, throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne each of the five main characters had the challenge of forgiving someone. Hester had to forgive the townspeople. Reverend Dimmesdale had to forgive Chillingworth. Chillingworth had to forgive Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl had to forgive the Reverend Dimmesdale. Governor Bellingham had to forgive Hester. The task proved equally difficult whether they had to forgive the sin of adultery or the act of vengeance. Forgiveness requires a tremendous amount of strength and courage, some are not capable of such an
He had to forgive Hester for the sin, and the crime, that she had committed. The Governor was the symbol of Law and Order in the town so he set the example for everyone. Had he forgiven Hester then the townspeople would have been more willing to forgive her as well. However he did not feel as though Hester deserved forgiveness. The law was clear and she violated it, so he could not forgive. There were points throughout the story when he contemplated forgiveness, because of the way she acted and represented herself. The end result of Governor Bellingham not forgiving Hester was that she spent the rest of her life as a criminal who had to walk around branded with the Scarlet A. In conclusion, throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne each of the five main characters had the challenge of forgiving someone. Hester had to forgive the townspeople. Reverend Dimmesdale had to forgive Chillingworth. Chillingworth had to forgive Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl had to forgive the Reverend Dimmesdale. Governor Bellingham had to forgive Hester. The task proved equally difficult whether they had to forgive the sin of adultery or the act of vengeance. Forgiveness requires a tremendous amount of strength and courage, some are not capable of such an