Free College Essays - The Results of Sin in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

429 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter - Inevitable Results of Sin

There are many ways to interpret literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered a very influential writer of the American Transcendentalist era; his writing deals a lot with the Puritan times, including his famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter deals with the adulterous sin of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the vengeance of Roger Chillingsworth, and the townspeople's attitude towards Hester and her daughter Pearl. Sin can be categorized many ways, but most importantly, one should remember that bad things always develop from sin. The fact that Hester and the minister sinned led to the townspeople looking down on Hester and Pearl, while Reverend Dimmesdale concealed his crime of passion making Hester's scarlet letter 'A' the central symbol of the novel.

As the people of Boston scrutinized Hester and Pearl, their devotion to the Lord's word soon turned to hatred. "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead," were the thrashful words of an autumnal matron in a throng of people. Under the appellation of Roger Chillingsworth, Hester's former husband constantly battered her. These actions filled him full of vengeance soon making him into a fiend. From the people treating Hester bad, and the unruly acts of Roger Chillingsworth, it is clearly shown that one sin can lead to many others.

Another example of sin erupting into more evils is Reverend Dimmesdale's camouflage act with his duality in the adulterous parody. Chillingsworth treated the minister even more uncivilized than he treated Hester; this earned him the title of the leech. As a physician, he was well respected, but his fiendish acts of hatred towards the minister turned him into a black devil. Seven years after Hester served her persecution on the scaffold with young Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale served his punishment. Not only did the sin of Reverend Dimmesdale make him lose all consciousness, when he confessed his crime, he lost his life to the cause. Through trying to avoid his sin, the reverend made

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Sinful Nature In The Scarlet Letter

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    A sinful nature is an aspect in man that makes him rebellious against God. Everyone has a sinful nature and it affects every part of us. Sin corrupts the human mind and has consequences for doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Every individual on Earth sins, and this is represented in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to portray how different people cope with their sin and the consequences of that sin.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - Hidden Sin in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    People often keep secrets in an effort to hide their sins from others. This is a risky since secrets have a way of manifesting themselves externally, and thus, letting everyone know of their owner’s sins.  Hidden sin is a prominent theme in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.  Names like Chillingworth and Dimmesdale let the reader know how, in reality, these characters are, before ever really encountering them. Characters whom the reader will encounter in this novel are going through some type of dilemma on the inside, which begins to show itself in the exterior of the particular individual. In The Scarlet Letter, two studious individuals, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale, two of the main characters in the novel, each possess their own sins which begin to show themselves in their outermost features, each brought apon themselves for their own respective reasons.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Greatest Sinner in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    When asked to describe Roger Chillingworth, peers say he was an upstanding, respectful, concerned citizen. They would have been right, but he didn’t let anyone know just how much he cared. With the loss of Hester, he became filled with anger and jealousy and eventually let his emotions overtake him. At the close of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the malevolent state of Roger Chillingworth’s heart made him the guiltiest.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    During this puritan time in the 1600s. Nathaniel Hawthorne who is an anti-transcendentalist speaks about sin. But not just any sin, secret sin in this novel “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne expresses many themes and symbols in many strange and mysterious ways. Hawthorne is a very dark and devious man. The scarlet letter A that is embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery. Adultery is the sin that she has committed. Hester had a whole husband and made a baby with a man that wasn’t the husband. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Hester’s Cabin, Leeches, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of Good Vs. Evil.

    Read More

  • Contemporary Society Has Done Enough to Respond to the Legacies of Historical Globalization

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    Questions: Not all problems have been solved, but some still have been changed so why are you so convinced that nothing has been changed? In what ways do you believe that society has not done enough to make change? There have been many changes made and effort put in to try to decrease the amount of slavery and poverty in the world, yet it is still existing today so why do you believe that modern society has done enough in an effort to respond when it is clearly not ever today? Why have no changes been made by on lookers and why do we just watch tragedy happen? In what ways do you believe that society has done enough to make change?

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Virtue of Truth in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    People living in Boston, Massachusetts looked up to and respected Dimmesdale because he was a minister. One of his sins was his inability to publicly acknowledge that he committed adultery with Hester and that he is the father of Pearl, Hester’s daughter. However, adultery was not his biggest sin. His biggest sin is hypocrisy. In chapter ten, he speaks of the concealment of his sins, he says, “It may be that they are kept silent by the very constistution of their nature. Or-can we not suppose it-guilty as they may be, retaining, nevertheless, a zeal for God’s glory and man’s welfare…no evil of the past be redeemed by better service (pg. 137).” While trying to conceal his sins, they take over his conscience and literally confess themselves during his acts of madness.

    Read More

  • Guilt and Shame in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Guilt and shame haunt all three of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, but how they each handle their sin will change their lives forever. Hester Prynne’s guilt is publicly exploited. She has to live with her shame for the rest of her life by wearing a scarlet letter on the breast of her gown. Arthur Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is just as guilty of adultery as Hester, but he allows his guilt to remain a secret. Instead of telling the people of his vile sin, the Reverend allows it to eat away at his rotting soul. The shame of what he has done slowly kills him. The last sinner in this guilty trio is Rodger Chillingworth. This evil man not only hides his true identity as Hester’s husband, but also mentally torments Arthur Dimmesdale. The vile physician offers his ‘help’ to the sickly Reverend, but he gives the exact opposite. Chillingworth inflicts daily, mental tortures upon Arthur Dimmesdale for seven long years, and he enjoys it. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all connected by their sins and shame, but what they do in regards to those sins is what sets them apart from each other.

    Read More

  • The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne had been tainted with sin once she had committed the crimme of adultry. Mistress Prynne has "raised a great scandal" in the town of Boston.(chapter 3) Hester left to the new world before her husband had. Her husband has not returneed in the past two years, and she had a daughter of three months. Meaning Hester has sinned by cheating on her husband and having anothers man's child. This goes against the Puritians ways of being holy which means Hester is not only a sinner but a criminal as well. Prynned had commited one of the seven deadly sins which is lust. She is put onto a platform so society may look down at her for commiting a sin. However Hester doesnt view herself as the worst sinner in the town of Boston but, views Chillingsworth as the worst sinner of all. In chapter 15 Hester states how Chillingsworth has "done me worse wrong than I have done him." Hester believes all of her memories with Chillingsworth have been her ugliest remembrances. She views him as a monster for marrying her and thinking that they could be happy since she was young and he was a old scholar. hester no longer see's her old husband but a deformed monster in his place. She disregards any happy memories she ever had with and believes he has deeply wronged her which makes him the biggest sinner of all for ruinnig Hesters life. Hester tries to seek justice by escaping to the o...

    Read More

  • Outline For The Scarlet Letter Essay

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    5. The Scarlet Letter portrays the radical role of religion within the early stages of America. Nathaniel Hawthorne is essentially a transcendental whistleblower in society, depicting the absurdity and irrationality of religion through Hester Prynne’s extreme retribution from her congregation and clergymen.

    Read More

  • Sin in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter is a novel that deals with the theme of sin. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished. However, the severity of a punishment is very difficult to agree on. Some people feel that sinners should be deeply punished no matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins.

    Read More

  • Social Phobia or Anxiety Disorder

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    Having anxiety is common and a part of everyday life however; there is a huge difference between a fear and a social phobia or anxiety disorder. The difference and important distinction psychoanalysts make between a fear and a phobia is “a true phobia must be inconsistent with the conscious learning experience of the individual” (Karon 1). Patients with true phobias “do not respond to cognitive therapy but do respond well to psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic therapy” (Karon 2). Social phobia is a serious anxiety disorder that should not be taken lightly or mistaken as a fear you will simply grow out of the older you get. Social phobia has the power to destroy lives and can prevent people from living and enjoying their life to the fullest. Social phobia is a disabling condition that often starts between the ages of early childhood and late adolescence. The origins of social phobia can be linked to “traumatic social experiences and social isolation” (Hudson118-120). Social phobia is treatable however; research and statics show that not many seek help.

    Read More

  • Social Anxiety and Cognitive Behavioral Treatments

    2020 Words  | 5 Pages

    Social anxiety is a predominant disorder amongst numerous individuals (Moscovitch, Gavric, Senn, Satnesso, Miskovic, Schmidt, McCabe, Antony 2011). Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is defined as a fear of rejection and being negatively judged by others in social situations (Kashdan, Farmer, Adams, Mcknight, Ferssizidis, Nezelf, 2013).

    Read More

  • Social Anxiety Disorder Essay

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    SAD is the third most prevalent mental disorder behind depression and alcoholism. About 5.3 million American adults have social phobia, which usually begins in childhood or adolescence, according to NIMH. For many social phobics, preoccupation with what others think may interfere in their job, school, relationships or other social activities. "Everyday interactions can become very problematic for people with social anxiety disorder," (Dittmann, 2005). Recent update of Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) stated that about 15 million American adults have social anxiety disorder. 36 percent of people with social anxiety disorder report symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help. Furthermore, reported typical age of onset is 13 years old (ADAA, 2014) suggests that children and adolesce...

    Read More

  • Moral and Social Themes in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Reverend Dimmesdale was another character that demonstrated the effects of sin.  He committed the same offense that Hester committed, adultery.  The difference between Dimmesdale and Hester was that Dimmesdale was not publicly punished for his crime while Hester was.  Because of this, Dimmesdale felt extremely guilty.  This feeling of guilt was so atrocious that it mentally and physically withered Dimmesdale, as he felt a very strong need to repent and cleanse his soul.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...

    Read More

More about Free College Essays - The Results of Sin in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Open Document