Sin and Its Hierarchy
October 26, 2012
1st Period
Sin and Its Hierarchy Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne focuses on the struggle of Hester Prynne, a woman who is forced to deal with the strict Puritan punishment for the adulterous birth of her child, Pearl. Yet, the very Puritan values that bring Hester public ignominy help to lift her to a position of respect in the community. Although Hawthorne does not condone Hester's sin, he takes pains to show that her sin is minimal in comparison to those of her weak lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, and of her vengeful husband, Roger Chillingworth. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!" (Hawthorne 200). Hester finds comfort in prayer and repentance, which help to make her strong. "Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers- stern and wild ones- and they had made her strong" (Hawthorne 206). Through her experience Hester comes to be respected by the Boston community and finds peace with herself and her God. Switching to another topic, Dimmesdale knows that the only way he can attain salvation and be freed from his nagging conscience and Chillingworth is through a public confession of his sin. Hawthorne demonstrates that a public confession is essential if Dimmesdale wishes to purge his guilt and to attain salvation, even after his attempts at private repentance. His failed attempt to confess on the scaffold early in the novel foreshadows his later confession and death at the novel's climax, after he successfully delivers his Election Day speech, on what should have been his greatest day as a servant of God. Hester's fault lies in the fact that her passion and love are stronger than her respect for the Puritan's moral code. She declares that "what we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other!" (Hawthorne 201) As the novel progresses, Hawthorne increasingly portrays Hester as the victim of the faults of both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale.
1st Period
Sin and Its Hierarchy Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne focuses on the struggle of Hester Prynne, a woman who is forced to deal with the strict Puritan punishment for the adulterous birth of her child, Pearl. Yet, the very Puritan values that bring Hester public ignominy help to lift her to a position of respect in the community. Although Hawthorne does not condone Hester's sin, he takes pains to show that her sin is minimal in comparison to those of her weak lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, and of her vengeful husband, Roger Chillingworth. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!" (Hawthorne 200). Hester finds comfort in prayer and repentance, which help to make her strong. "Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers- stern and wild ones- and they had made her strong" (Hawthorne 206). Through her experience Hester comes to be respected by the Boston community and finds peace with herself and her God. Switching to another topic, Dimmesdale knows that the only way he can attain salvation and be freed from his nagging conscience and Chillingworth is through a public confession of his sin. Hawthorne demonstrates that a public confession is essential if Dimmesdale wishes to purge his guilt and to attain salvation, even after his attempts at private repentance. His failed attempt to confess on the scaffold early in the novel foreshadows his later confession and death at the novel's climax, after he successfully delivers his Election Day speech, on what should have been his greatest day as a servant of God. Hester's fault lies in the fact that her passion and love are stronger than her respect for the Puritan's moral code. She declares that "what we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other!" (Hawthorne 201) As the novel progresses, Hawthorne increasingly portrays Hester as the victim of the faults of both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale.