The Scarlet Letter Theme Analysis

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston, Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin, she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life, which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also, she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole town to recognize her grave sins. The man who should be standing upon the scaffold along with her and Pearl is the town minister, Dimmesdale. He is presented as a weak character because of his fear of losing his beloved reputation as such a holy man. The townspeople do not know who Hester’s husband is, but the reader eventually finds out that Hester’s husband is Roger Chillingworth. His quest throughout the novel is to take revenge on Dimmesdale. Many characters, including Pearl, Mistress Hibbins, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale, are all characters who are associated with evil and the Black Man. Many of the same characters also struggle with their identity within their Puritan society. Because of the main sin of adultery, several themes emerge in the novel; the three major themes that are demonstrated in the lives of the main characters are the positive and negative effects of sin, the nature of evil, and identity issues in society. To begin with, the main sin of adultery brings about the theme of the positive and negative effects of sin. Although, the cause of these effects comes from the same sin of adultery, each character is affected differently. Firstly, Hester becomes a stronger person because of her sin. Obviously, in this case, Hester’s sin affects her positively. The law sentences her to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest for the rest of her life. The initial intention of this scarlet letter is to make the townspeople almost gag every time they see her, but