Analysis of Sins in The Scarlet Letter
The story begins with an unfortunate marriage between Hester and Roger Prynne, wich leads to adultery and revenge. The Scarlet Letter, is the title of Nathaniel Hawthorne's book. The book is mainly focused on Hester Prynne, her sin, and the people who got caught in the midst of it. Firstly and most importantly is Hester Prynne. As stated before, she was the main character, and the one who leads others to sin. She committed the sin of adultery, the sin that back in those days was punished with death. The only reason why they speared her life was because she did not want to name the father of the baby, and her baby "the elf-child" could not live alone without a mother or a father. Therefore, in order to still practice their authority, the magistracy decided to punish her by making her wear the scarlet letter "A"on her bosom, and to stand in the scaffold for three hours every day. "But in their great mercies and tenderness of heart they doomed mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then and thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom". ( P.42 )
On the other hand, we find Rev. Arthur Dimsdale, who was the father of the baby. It appears that he could not resist temptations of the flesh , even being a minister, he still fell into sin and adultery. Unlike Hester, Dimsdale did not have to pay consequences as far as to the outside world refers, due to the fact that Hester did not tell a soul that he was the father of the baby. Despite this, he still received his punishment, an internal punishment. "A well hidden secret , looking pure as a new fallen snow, while their heart is spoitted with inquity of wich they cannot rid themselves".(p. 88)
Finally, the last sinner was Roger Chilingworth, or Roger Prynne. Even though he did not commit a sin that deserved death in that time, his sin was worse than any other. Not only did he destroy Rev. Dimsdale's life, by torturing him with his analogies and indirect stories. He also destroyed his own life by making himself the one thing he hated the most, a fiend. "I have already told thee what I am , a fiend!".
The third alluvial deposition consists of sand, silt and minor inter-bedded gravel, and again indicates Brimbank Park’s changing geology over time. (Geological map of Victoria, 1973). These deposits, as well as a nearby fault suggest volcanic activity 5-1.6 million years ago, which explains the olivine basalt (fig. 2) deposits which date back to to the Silurian and Tertiary period.
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
When Dimmesdale tried to confess his sin to his congregation, they saw the confession as if it were part of his sermon. “He had spoken the very truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood”. (Hawthorne 171) Instead of correcting their assumption, Dimmesdale went along with it, once more hiding his sinfulness. When Dimmesdale finally confessed his sin openly to the public with no doubt of his guilt, it was upon the spot where Hester served her punishment for their crime....
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.
Dimmesdale could not have been in love with Hester, due to the fact he was unwilling to bear the shame of iniquity. After many years of remaining in secrecy, the minister still refused to claim the mother and child publicly. On the night of Governor Winthrop’s death, Hester and Pearl found Dimmesdale upon the scaffold where he once again denied his family, promising he would, “stand with thy mother and thee one day”, to little Pearl (Hawthorne 127). Over the course of seven years, Dimmesdale had countless opportunities to claim his sin, beginning with the first day Hester was convicted. During his few encounters with Hester over the next seven years, the ordinate continued to say he would one day be with her and expose his debauchery. However, Arthur Dimmesdale only ever spoke such promises, and never acted upon his word until the moment before his death, leaving no time to father Pearl and be a husband to Hester. If Dimmesdale had truly loved Hester, he would have disposed his identity as an adulterer on the initial day of Hester’s castigation and aided in the raising of Pearl. The minister acted out of lust and did not love Hester, which caused the loathing himself for the act of infidelity. His only method to cope without disposing his depravity to the congregation was illustrated by actions of penance, which
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne, a sinner, living in a puritan society. As punishment, she is forced to wear a scarlet letter on her chest. Her daughter Pearl is the product of her sinful ways, and a constant reminder of her wrongdoing. Pearl’s embodiment of the Scarlet Letter causes her hostile relationships with the world and her mother. However, when Dimmesdale kisses her, he frees her from isolation and allows her to form human connections.
Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts Arthur Dimmesdale as a hypocrite which is one of the primary reasons he is viewed as a consequential sinner in the novel. The reverend has an affair with Hester Prynne before the novel begins, ultimately causing her to have a daughter. The act of committing adultery is a sin according to the bible. It is such a sizable sin that it is even included in the commandments where it states that “thou shalt not commit adultery.” Since Dimmesdale preaches to people that transgressing the bible is bad, the fact that he committed one of the most sizable sins makes his wrongdoing
The Scarlet letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The plot focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hester Prynne, the protagonist, has an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale, which means they are adulterers and sinners. As a result, Pearl is born and Hester is forced to where the scarlet letter. Pearl is a unique character. She is Hester’s human form of her scarlet letter, which constantly reminds her of her sin, yet at the same time, Pearl is a blessing to have since she represents the passion that Hester once had.
Hester Prynne, from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, the Scarlet Letter, faces a crucible. She commits adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale and becomes pregnant with a daughter, Pearl. She is isolated from the community and the general public except for when she must stand upon the scaffold for three hours as part of her punishment for her sin. She must also wear a scarlet letter “A” for adultery on her breast. The town looks at her differently because of her sin but Hester stays true to her personality. Hester fairs her life by honoring her punishment and her mistakes, as well as taking care of Pearl and teaching her to be kind.
Hester Prynne committed a crime so severe that it changed her life into coils of torment and defeat. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is publicly recognized as an adulteress and expelled from society. Alongside the theme of isolation, the scarlet letter, or symbol of sin, is meant to shame Hester but instead transforms her from a woman of ordinary living into a stronger person.
While Hester tries to protect Dimmesdale by not giving the name of Pearl's father, she actually condemns him to a long road of suffering, self torture and disappointment. She does this by letting him keep the sin he committed in secret while he watches her being publicly punished. Chillingworth observes Dimmesdale's desire to confess, as well as his lack of willpower to do so. Dimmesdale rationalizes not confessing; all the while Chillingworth is torturing with constant reminders of his hypocrisy. Hester never voluntarily confesses to committing adultery, and never feels any remorse for it. Her public punishment comes not as a result of her having any contrition, but rather her apparent pregnancy. She stays in the town to be close to Dimmesdale, as a reader would find on page 84, "There dwelt...the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union..." She also stays in town to convince others, as well as herself, that she is actually regretful for her sin even though she knows in her heart she is not. She does this to appease her guilt. As Hawthorne puts it on page 84, "Here...had been the scene of her guilt...
Now, one could state that Hester also sins against the eighth commandment. She never reveals the name of her daughter's father. And it is stated that one must always tell the truth. Yet, it also states that one must keep a secret whenever asked to do so, and not say anything to damage another's reputation (Gerber 27). So Hester, in fact, did not sin. She n...
In a town full of Puritan believers, three sinners arose: Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth (Prynne). The three all defied the Puritan God, and lived to face their consequences. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sins were closely tied, but Chillingworth 's was of a vastly different nature. Hester 's sin was adultery, as she had cheated on her husband Chillingworth. Likewise, Dimmesdale 's sin was sexual immorality. He knowingly had relations with Hester, a married woman. Generally, their sins are more tame in nature, as it was a consensual relationship, and did no harm. Dimmesdale also sinned against his God. He hid and lied by omission while publicly preaching about the dangers of lying. His sin of hypocrisy did no harm to others, but created distrust in his
The graph shows the results that were expected from the land use questionnaire. In the tables, the trend in the graphs show the total’s and average’s over 147 years.
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.