The Scarlet Letter illustrates that the illumination of self-deception gapes open after one like the very jaws of hell. This is apparent through all the main characters of the novel. Although Hawthorne's work has several imperfect people as the main characters, including Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the worst sinner is Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth commits the greater sin because of his failure to forgive; he has an insatiable appetite for revenge; he receives extreme pleasure in torturing Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, however, has committed sins of almost the same magnitude. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...beral - perhaps amoral - society, adultery can be justified if we are truly in love or somehow deceived in marriage. There are many in our society today that would teach that adultery is not a great sin, but rather the guilt is the sin. They would say, "I am no devil, for there is none." In general, if you declare something not to be a sin, or at least a justifiable sin, you can do away with the guilt. According to Christian theology, however, there is a catch that states, in 1 Corinthians 32:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." When we know of our self-deception perfectly, hell has arrived, the day has passed, and we are no longer able to repent. From a Christian's perspective, you can deny or disagree with what God declares to be sin, but only temporarily ...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon.
Hester and Dimmesdale’s affair goes undiscovered until Hester is pregnant and bears a child without having her husband present. As her punishment, Hester is forced to stand on the scaffold in the middle of the market place, with an A on her chest. Dimmesdale has not told a single person that he is the adulterer. He sits in the balcony with the Governor, a judge, a general, and the rest of the ministers, watching the display, without any expression or emotion. Hester and Pearl go to the Governor’s home to deliver a pair of gloves, but more importantly to inquire about the possibility of the government taking away her child. Also there with Governor Bellingham are Pastor Wilson, Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. After Mr. Wilson asks Pearl a few questions, the Governor decides that Hester is unfit as a mother and that the child would be better off in the hands of the church. Hester begs Dimmesdale, whom she says knows everything about her and has charge of her soul, to speak for her. Therefore, he does, convincing the Governor to let Hester keep Pearl. This is Dimmesdale’s first step to becoming the moral blossom. Late at night, a few years after the previous incident, Dimmesdale takes a walk through the town. He climbs onto the scaffold and pretends to confess; though there is no one out at this time at night. Hester and Pearl, on their way home, pass Dimmesdale on the scaffold. Dimmesdale calls out to them and they join him, standing hand in hand in the darkness. Dimmesdale has begun the road to confession by acknowledging Hester and Pearl and by acting out confession. Now he feels guiltier than ever.
In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne vividly displays to the reader that Hester's decision to keep Roger Chillingworth's identity was a foolish miscalculation. Hester's Judgment of preserving Chillingworth's identity causes and concludes disorder throughout the Scarlet Letter. The disorder caused by Hester Prynne'a unwise decisions provides firm evidence that Roger Chillingworth, Hester Prynne's husband, is the antagonist in the Scarlet Letter because of his true intentions of concealing his true identity. Since Hester Prynne helped Roger Chillingworth contain his true identity, she paid the price later on for her choice she made. The outcome of her choice effects Arthur Dimesdale, Pearl, the community of Salem, and herself. In the final analysis, Hester shouldn't have kept Roger Chillingworth's identity hidden because her choice
Dimmesdale has confessed, and also passed away. She needs to get away from the place of her hurt for a while as her sin no longer defines her. Pearl’s job as the symbol for Hester’s sin is done with, and they need to go to a place where they can live a normal life for a while. Hester returns to Boston because she wants to be with Dimmesdale. Chillingworth is no longer a problem, so it is safe for her to return to Boston. In the very end she is buried near Dimmesdale, and finally in death they are
“ ‘Nay; not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which-with a strange joy, nevertheless -he now found himself.’ Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one day, but not tomorrow’ “(Hawthorne 149-150). Pearl now has a connection with Dimmesdale. She wants to be with him, but he still wants to believe he isn’t the father and he can’t be seen with her or people will know what really is. Hester’s life to Dimmesdale is free and open, while he, on the other hand, has a life of misery. His life of misery is causing him to break down and it makes people suspect something is wrong. “ ‘No, Hester, no!’ replied the clergyman. ‘There is no substance in it! It is cold and dead, and can do nothing for me! Of penance, I have had enough! Of penance, there has been none’ “(Hawthorne 188)! This secret is eating at Dimmesdale’s heart and he cannot control
In The Scarlet Letter, the three main characters; Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth all commit sins. The protagonist Hester Prynne commits adultery by having a child with Dimmesdale while she was married to Chillingworth. Arthur Dimmesdale commits fornication through the same act as he is not married, and also bears false witness by not admitting to his sins. Roger Chillingworth seeks vengeance on the man who slept with his wife. All of these sins have an affect on the characters, however some characters are affected more than the others.
Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows many examples of forgiveness through the main characters, Hester Prynne, Pearl Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale. Each character has their own personal struggle of forgiveness. Pearl Prynne as an example is able to forgive more easily opposed to Roger Chillingworth, who has more of a struggle with forgiveness. Each character has a different outcome for their forgiveness.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel set during 17th century in the Puritan colony of Boston, Massachusetts. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, the young wife of scholar Roger Chillingworth, formally Roger Prynne, who gives birth to a daughter through a secret affair with the town’s Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and who must bear the shame of her actions. At different point in the novel, both men address Hester regarding her crime, which gives the reader insight about their character and motives. Dimmesdale is portrayed as a hypocritical clergyman who is too cowardly to face his shame, while Chillingworth is observed to be an introverted man who holds much power and seeks revenge.
Sin; an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. In the novel, The scarlet Letter there are many sinners. The question is who committed the greatest sin? Is the act of adultery of Hester Prynne, adultery of the reverend himself, Arthur Dimmesdale, or the husband who never reveals his secret, the greatest sin of all.
Roger Chillingworth, in Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is the greatest sinner because he devotes his life to hatred and wrath. Every living breathing moment he has he uses to destroy another. His need for revenge turns him from “a wise and just man to a fiend.”
Within The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to uncover the different methods people use to handle guilt and highlights that guilt may be more destructive than punishment through the contrasting characters of Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. The two characters commit the same crime of adultery, but chose different methods of handling the guilt; Hester deals with guilt by aiding others, hopes that she will be forgiven, and is overall not ashamed with her past. In contrast, Dimmesdale keeps from confessing and hides the secret for several years, punishing himself by starving and whipping himself, along with suffering insomnia, leading to his poor health and mental torment. The contrast between the two individuals proves that guilt
In addition to that, Dimmesdale can be regarded as contributing significantly to Hester Prynne’s alienation from society. Dimmesdale agrees with Chillingworth that Hester is better off with her sin publicly displayed than she would be with it concealed, and says that his sickness is a “sickness of the soul”, and passionately cries out that he will not reveal his secret to “an earthly physician”. This gives us a clear insight into the nature of Dimmesdale’s tortured battle with himself. Clearly, he is declining from the internal struggle within his soul, and yet he still cannot confess that he had an affair with Hester and that he is the father of Pearl. By simply “doing nothing” about his sin, he is consequently contributing to Hester’s punishment
The greatest sin committed by any character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter was that of Arthur Dimmesdale. Although Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth wronged each other, the person that did evil against both of them was Dimmesdale. Not only did Dimmesdale have relations with Hester Prynne though he knew that she was still married, but he never came forward as the companion in her sin.
One of the main ideas Hawthorne presents in The Scarlet Letter, is the nature of sin. The main three characters--Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth--all commit a great sin, some resulting worse than the others. Sin can be and is committed by anyone and everyone at some point in their lives. Although in God’s eyes all sin is equal, I believe some sin has greater consequences than other sin. As humans, we look at sin on different levels. For example, murder being worse than theft. Each person throughout the novel received some sort of consequence for the sin they had committed. Some of them accepted it and lived with what they had done while others turned it into their whole life.
In The Scarlet Letter guilt, punishment, revenge, and sin are all very prominent. They show us just what can happen when you choose to carry unconfessed sin and guilt. Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale all experience these terrible consequences. In this novel you will see the consequences of sin while having to under go the feeling of guilt.