Perspectives on Sin in The Scarlet Letter

A sin that is so immoral that mingles with the unadulterated mindset of others is perhaps the worst sinner of them all. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter, should committing the act of adultery with a higher order of the church, be punishable by sinful deeds? But how do you punish someone who has committed adultery? Is the implications of her punishment so impaling that it has ruined her life and the others inflicted? Although Hester may be a sinner and a great one at that, she is not the worst sinner and she has actually benefited from her sins as a person, mindset, and family. Hester is not, by any means, a contrite sinner nor is her innocence reflected upon her daughter Pearl, but in hurting herself and perhaps others, she has actually redeemed herself and her reputation and revealed society’s inner sin and debauchery within human nature.

Hester Prynne is no familiar character without associating her with her personal sin of adultery, and has been the pitfall of not only herself, but her personal family and friends around her. She is put down, distraught, and even decimated after society has decided to punish her after ruining her reputation and any future offspring of her descent. Even though some may say she has committed this life by scandalizing her life with adultery with the higher order of the ministry, Dimmesdale—Hester did not desecrate her life by sin or by choice; Hester did not punish and inevitably sacrifice the reputation of others; Hester did not deplore her life, but rather mended her sinful wounds into a rewarding and captivating experience that has made her a better person. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, even though shun before society and broken within, she did not quell on her humiliation, ...

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...in was immoral and humble. But many people take the illusionary side that in the long haul of everything, a sin cannot turn into something more justifiable and virtuous. Hester’s sin of adultery, in the short run, did damage her reputation and credibility, but in the long haul it favored her in the end by redeeming herself, not as the sin of adultery and not as the sin that led to the vengeance of Chillingworth, but a sin that has transformed itself into a different meaning—Able. Able to endure the endless physical torture reminding her of the scarlet letter that her little Pearl signifies as a daily reminder of her punishment; Able to endure the sorrow and loneliness of being an outcast to society as a result of her guilt; Able to pass conviction and strengthen her spirit as the mark of her importance and status as the “Angel” of Puritan divine conception.