The Use Of Sin In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Jade Scott

Mr. Roth

AP Comp

9 December 2014 The Scarlet Letter Sin is an offence against religious or moral law. Hester Prynne had a child out of wedlock which upset the whole town and caused controversy. Sin is recurring in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and it forms the characters into the people they become. The scarlet letter “A” was worn by Hester Prynne daily to show her sin of adultery. While the primary meaning of the “A” was adulterer it later signified able, “People refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification. They said that it meant “Able,” so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 152). Hester has overcome her sin and did not let it define her as a woman. Hester being ostracized and tormented for doing what every woman does shaped her into a strong, able woman. The townspeople, at least in private life, do not look at her as the woman she was, but the woman she has

It haunts the characters and makes them change whether it be for the worse or for the better. Hester changes for the better. She becomes more strong willed and is willing to accept her sin while Dimmesdale hides his sin and ends up suffering for it. Sachin Vaman Londhe, an Assistant Professor in English, concluded exquisitely the effects on sinning, “It causes pain and suffering and isolates the transgressor. It leads to the deterioration of both mental and physical health. It can also be said that hidden sin and guilt causes more suffering than open guilt” (Londhe 4). This sums up Dimmesdale, he suffered slowly for hiding his guilt and he deteriorated. He left Hester to suffer alone and he was the one to ultimately pay the price. It is stated in The Scarlet Letter “In the view of infinite purity, we are all sinners alike” (Hawthorne 245). Dimmesdale is saying that everyone is a sinner and they are all alike. They spent most of their time blaming Hester when they were sinning as