Theme Of Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

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If someone does something wrong, but no one knows about it, they can gain and lose both positive and negative things from it. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, characters commit certain deeds that are wrong in different ways, some getting caught and some getting away with it. For those who aren't caught, they have a decision to make; to turn themselves in or to live their lives as if it never happened. The people that choose to live on as if it never happened have to forever deal with the guilt of whatever it is that they've done. On top of that they have to make sure no one else knows what they did or is suspicious of it. The only positive outcome of it all is that if no one knows or ever finds out then they get to live on as if it never happened without facing any other problems like being imprisoned or judged by everyone else.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale commit a great sin that causes them immense guilt and sadness throughout the novel. The character that is mainly affected by guilt is Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale becomes guilty of committing the sin of adultery with Hester. People eventually do find out about the sin because he impregnates Hester and she has a baby named Pearl, but no one knows he is the man involved in this sin or the father of the baby. In the beginning he handles it like most people do; keeping it a secret because not only is he a minister who people look up to and wants to continue to be so, but he also wants to protect his reputation which in those times seemed to be one of the most important things a person had.
The positive outcome of doing this is that he gets to keep his status in the community and prevent from being humiliated and judged by th...

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... she isn’t ashamed, after all because of this she received one of the greatest gifts ever, Pearl. Arthur Dimmesdale handled his extreme terrible guilt by concealing it to himself, taking long walks into the forest, and physically and mentally beating himself up. As you can see by these examples if you commit a crime and no one knows about it, it's up to you how you handle it; if you decide to move on with your life or fall into a pit of guilt. If you can escape the guilt, there will most likely be a god outcome. If you can't escape the guilt, your life will pretty much become a living hell. Your conscious will take over constantly reminding you of what you have done, tormenting you and not allowing you to live your life peacefully. So in conclusion if you commit a crime and you aren't caught, good things can come from it but most likely, terrible things will follow.

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