Dimmesdale's versus Danforth's Sins in Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

His recognition makes Pearl feel complete. Dimmesdale confesses his sin directly before his death, but avoids paying the consequences afterward. It is difficult to have respect toward Reverend Dimmesdale, but at the end of the novel readers pity

Dimmesdale is shown as being a secret sinner throughout the novel, but with the evil torturing that he receives from Chillingworth and himself it drives him to the point where he then becomes a public sinner. It is better for an individual to confess their sin than to bury it deep down. Dimmesdale, a Puritan minister, has had an affair (which he chose to do) with Chillingworth’s wife and he can’t come to the point where he can confess his sin to the public. Therefore, he is a secret sinner. By being this secret sinner Dimmesdale begins to physically and mentally break down.

Chillingworth grows uglier and more grotesque as the novel goes on because his outward appearance is reflecting in on his inner hatred, wrath, and jealousy towards Dimmesdale. Nathaniel Hawthorne believes that the only way to have inner peace is through the confession of one’s sins and the ability to move on from the past. Hester has been made beautiful because she has made the decision to let go of her past. Dimmesdale, however; refuses to admit until the very end of his life when he had nothing left to lose, making his confession less genuine and sincere. This made him weak and emaciated outwardly and inwardly.

Also, he lets his pride get in the way which triggers the suicide of Haimon and his wife, Eurydice. By the end of the tragedy, Creon is forced to live through the painful death of his family, thus being the tragic character because he suffered the most. Creon is the tragic character of Antigone because his pride blocks the path of him being wise. He sentences his niece, Antigone, to death because she has buried her brother, Polynices, whom Creon considers a traitor. This leads to an argument to his son, Haimon, who is also Antigone’s fiancé.

Finally, this statement creates a parallel between Chillingworth's idea of justice and the Puritans'. The theme Hawthorne builds up in Chillingworth is not simply his pain and torment. It is a more important representation of the weakness in the values of the people in Puritan times, and how their perseverance for "justice" skewed their views on life and forgiveness. Because of his mindset, Chillingworth torments himself with his goal to destroy Dimmesdale just as much as Dimmesdale tortures himself for their seven years together. Chillingworth is ruining his own life and does not realize it, because he no longer sees the value in life as he tries to ruin one.

Puritans may have tried to give themselves the appearance of a perfect society, but it was really just as corrupt and full of sinners as any society today. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, there is evidence for this. In Puritan literature, although they try to hide it, sin is very common, in that Puritans do the opposite of what they preach, but still harshly punish those who sin. Affairs are a common sin with the Puritans that cannot be kept secret, because of the Puritan stress on faithfulness and love in marriages and the negative view of divorce. Affairs are bountiful in Puritan society; even a minister, one who preaches sin, commits adultery.

First Shylock could have tried to make friends with the Christians but instead he retaliates to their comments and they end up being in a sort of religious war. Next when Shylock loses his daughter Jessica he does not try to find her but wishes she would go to hell for the pain she has caused him. He has many opportunities to make the most of the situations he is given but, shylock being the self-centered man he is, hurts himself in a poorly thought out plan to benefit him self. The reason Shylock becomes the sad, lonely old man that he is cannot be blamed on any one but himself.

His conscience makes him feel so bad that he wants to try to make up for his mistakes, but in the end he is still too tempted by the bad to abandon his altern... ... middle of paper ... ...is weakness to the evil because he can’t stop his acts, unless he goes that as far as to commit suicide. Gene also feels guilt, when Phineas dies he believes that he has also died with him and will never be the same again. Unfortunately neither one completely and whole heartedly repents or changes their actions allowing the reader to decide whether they ever are really worthy of receiving any forgiveness. In summary both Jekyll and Gene are in acknowledgment of their injustices and yet each still commit their crime making them guilty. In the world today a child cannot be put in prison for a crime.

These punishments are done in private and do not provide the cleansing Dimmesdale seeks and needs. The life of public repentance, although bitter and difficult, helps Hester retain her good sanity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his. His agonized suffering is the direct result of his inability to disclose his sin. Hester's ex-husband also tortures Dimmesdale very badly because of his jealousy. Dimmesdale becomes very ill as a result of his unconfessed sin.

Furthermore, the Misfit does not have any sympathy or regret for those he murders and simply forgets his wrongdoings. While speaking to the grandmother the Misfit reveals that “‘[he] can do one thing or [...] another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later [he is] going to forget what [he had done] and just be punished for it.’”(O’Connor 25). The Misfit’s inability to understand the purpose of consequences reveals his insanity. His psychological issues are a key factor that institutes his horrific actions. The Misfit’s lack of psychological help contributes to the decay of his morality because with an unstable mind he is unable to grasp moral values whatsoever.