Preview

Sin In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
496 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sin In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
How can a sin change a life? In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester’s sin of adultery is well known. Forced to stand in front of the community for one day to be publically shamed, Hester held her head high. However, her shame does not end there. Although people begin to get used to Hester in their community and even begin to accept her, Hester has changed. The constant humiliation has driven her to hide behind her embarrassment, and she is therefore distinguished by it. In the passage from the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses vivid imagery and diction to convey the powerful effect a symbol can have.
When Hester walks through town, she knows that everyone is looking at the -A on her chest: a symbol of her sins. Even though people

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The puritan era was designed to be a utopia but when there are sinners being judged by there one mistake and leaders who are hypocrites the puritan era turned out to be anything but a perfect society. If sinners weren’t judged by hypocrites then the puritan era would have been more successful in creating a utopia. Hypocrites were hidden throughout the puritan era. In the novel The Scarlet Letter many of the great leaders were unknown hypocrites. The puritans may not have known it but their own governor was a hypocrite.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    pointing out he beauty and "perfect elegance". He never once pointed out a flaw of…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to reinforce the idea that, for every action, there is a positive or negative effect that will follow. In simple terms, if you do something bad, there will be a negative consequence. One of the main recurring symbols in the novel is the scarlet letter itself. The scarlet ‘A’ that Hester Prynne wears in the novel is worth a lot more than just its material value, it relays many ideas and themes. The ‘A’ is a punishment for one of the worst sins that could be committed; adultery. The punishment that is caused by the scarlet ‘A’ manifests itself in different ways and in different people. For example, Hester’s punishment comes in the form of public embarrassment and shame, whereas Minister Dimmesdale’s guilt comes in the form of personal guilt. The ‘A’ means different things at different times in the book also.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Puritan Era was the most religious time in American history; committing any sin was seen as an act of rebellion. In that time the sin of adultery was taken very literally to an extent where the women were forced to wear the letter “A” across their bosom to show the people of the town what they had committed. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s sin results in such a punishment, but as the reader gets deeper into the book, a prominent and more profound understanding of Hester can be reached. It is through her struggles that Hawthorne gets across his primary themes. Hawthorne illustrates his theme through Hester's struggles that becoming an outcast can help one achieve a profound grasp of who they truly…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sin is considered to be a morally bad act in the Christian faith. In The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans’ views on human nature were affected by their belief in original sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne allows the reader to see the significant role that sin plays in human experience and in the Puritan society in which Hester Prynne lived in through the use of symbols in his novel. The symbols that are present convey messages about how humans should deal with their flawed nature and the negative effects that sin has on the body, mind, and soul.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hester Prynne's sin was labeled an adulteress, and the result of this was that she had to wear the scarlet letter "A." She feels that her sin has taken away everything she had, and given her one thing in return; that is, her baby. Although she had dignity and pride when she first stepped out of the prison and when she stood upon the scaffold this "A" alienated and separated her…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book depicting the struggle of a woman who is spared death after committing adultery in a strict puritan society. The woman, Hester Prynne, was spared death only for the reason to make an example to the rest of the community. Throughout the book you can see the theme of how sin changes lives appear in almost every chapter and is an important driving factor behind the plot. This theme is shown through the actions of the three main characters: Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. These three characters act in this novel as the personification of sin in three different types of sin. A different sin by each of the main characters.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the Bible, the Devil sought more power than he already had. He wanted the power that God has. When he wages war and loses, he is thrown to hell, but his hunger for power never ceases. He punishes people for their sin to gain more power and pleasure. The Devil is, nevertheless, the worst sinner, and a parallel is drawn to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. In his novel, Hawthorne presents the reader with three sinners: Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingsworth. It is clear in the novel that all of them are wrongdoers. Dimmesdale’s and Hester’s adultery causes them to be spiritual transgressors, but Hester’s sin is revealed to the village while Dimmesdale’s is a secret. Chillingsworth’s intentional…

    • 1095 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Shame “Shame is nothing more than denial of the truth.” – M. Funkhouser. Everyone agrees that…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite Hester’s sin, she had become known for ability to help others and her strength; the A now represents Able, not Adulteress. This illustrates the fact that Hawthorne believes that truth and embracing sin leads to freedom and forgiveness. Hester has an overall impact in her community despite of the symbol of shame that the letter is meant to represent, by regaining her communities admiration through her ability to be a productive member of the community and sympathize with others. Hester utilizes her “shame” to derive strength, pushing the notion of righteousness through the embracement of sin. Hester continues to participate in society, creating items such as gloves for religious activities, and through this, Hester regains the trust of the people. Hester’s morals of truth, honesty, and hard work are further justified as the righteous morals when it becomes apparent to the community that “none so ready as she to give her little substance to every demand of poverty” (110).…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People change because of their experiences. The Scarlet Letter demonstrates this exceptionally well, as writer Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts what happens to a person when confronted with sin. Hawthorn shows this by focusing on two of the main character that are most affected by their sins, Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. On one hand there is Hester Prynne a woman who has sinned but instead of running from it faces the problems head on; with a scarlet letter on her chest and a child on her hip. On the other you have Arthur Dimmesdale a man who fled from his sin, hiding the truth from the public, and could not be guiltier. Both have committed the same sin, but have wildly different experiences due to the choices they have made on…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In protestant times, sin was considered to be part of breaking the law. Sin not only hurts one in the church’s eyes but also in the townspeople’s eyes. Sin can lead to guilt and guilt can tear away at the body both physically and mentally. Both sin and guilt are represented in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter which reveals the disintegration of the individual psyche: a tendency for the life of the body, the mind and the soul to fall apart due to sin, like the broken and isolated lives of both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Guilt is through the spirit and Pain is the body.” Everyone is sinful or guilty in a way, whether it is lying or doing adultery. It is mistakes that are caused by people. Because you will have to be guilty first in order to suffer the pain that was caused by their sin. Mr. Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne had to suffer his own sin and can’t find a way to confess to the society, no one understands what is he going through. Hester has to suffer from her own sin with everyone be disgusted by her, wish to not have any relationship with her. This is the same with John Proctor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He had to suffer a sin of his own, due to the affair between him and Abigail Williams. Therefore he has to face…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scarlet Letter Sin Essay

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The calm and erudite physician removes the slumbering minister’s clothing, and, upon witnessing the dark secret on the minister’s bare chest, becomes engulfed in vengeful delight. The leech, unable to contain his ecstasy, releases it in a cathartic dance as he flails and sways like a madman. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne argues that sin has detrimental and severe lasting effects on one’s life. Through the use of third person omniscient point of view and the characterization of the vengeful and obsessed Roger Chillingworth, Hawthorne delineates the detrimental consequences of sin.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The letter A, worn on Hester 's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . . (Nathaniel Hawthorne).Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, (Nathaniel Hawthorne). She is a very strong woman to be able to holdup so well, against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a devil child is a very tough woman (Nathaniel Hawthorne).…

    • 733 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays