Adversities of Life: How to Respond

The definition of struggling is to: make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction. All people go through struggle at one point or another in their lives, regardless wealth, religion, or ethnicity. What truly defines how benevolent one is, is how they respond to the adversity that they face. For example, the death of a loved one, a spouse cheating on the other spouse, a sinful act, or perhaps undeserved humiliation are all applicable. Throughout The Scarlet Letter three characters encounter a desperate struggle, each commits a different sin, and each character handles their unique struggle in a different manner. In the Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne sends his readers a message—how to cope with the sin within one’s self; he shows us three ways manage our sins with the use of three characters (Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmsdale, and Roger Chillingworth.) Hester Prynne represents the sin of adultery, but she also represents redemption because of the way she responds to her delinquencies. Arthur Dimmsdale is the second character that Hawthorne uses to portray sin, and Dimmsdale is the symbol of lust; he also uses Dimmsdale as a symbol of hidden sin. Finally, the sin of anger is represented by the embodiment of the devil the evil, Doctor Roger Chillingworth.

Hester is the one character who openly addresses her sin to God as well as the community. She is the most dynamic character in the book. She represents not only adultery but also the forgiveness of sin, and hope to those who still need to find the enlightenment. “Lastly, in the lieu of these shifting scenes, came back the rude market-place of the Puritan settlement. With all the townspeople assembled and leveling their stern regards at Hester ...

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... and when he dies so does Chillingworth because without Dimmsdale to punish, Chillingworth has no purpose.

In the Scarlet letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Dimmsdale, and the Leech to send his reader a message; sin will occur in life, it is how the sinner repents and redeems themselves that defines who they are. With Hester, Dimmsdale, and The Leech Hawthorne proves that there are three ways to respond to adversity: to accept it and make the best of circumstances, to shrink from it and let it eat up your soul, and finally to pursue further sin and let it corrupt and revile who you are. Life is full of adversity, hardship, and destruction. When it gets hard it becomes easy to take shortcuts and the easy road out. However if you pursue forgiveness self-righteousness and are uncorrupted despite one’s repugnant surroundings then life will become easier in the end.