Sin and Repentence in Nathaniel Hawthrone´s The Scarlet Letter

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Recommended: Critical Analysis of the Scarlet Letter

All humans are sinners. Nobody is perfect. However, some sins are much worse than others. All sins have consequences. In order to alleviate these consequences, one must be able to repent in some way. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter explores the topic of sin and repentance. In it, there are three sinners, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Of the three of characters, Arthur Dimmesdale’s sin is the worst because he did not confess to it.
Dimmesdale’s first major mistake was having sex with Hester. They were not married and he was not prepared to be a father. He was too small minded to realize that if he really loved Hester, he should ask her to marry him. Even if she had husband, they could have run away together to Europe, instead of waiting until it was too late. He gave into temptation when he should have been strong and said no to her before he got her pregnant. If he had just remained abstinent, he could have prevented suffering for both himself and Hester. He got caught up in a moment of passion when he should have been thinking of the consequences.
Even though Dimmesdale was not wise in having sex with Hester, his real sin was not owning up to it. He was too scared and spineless to admit to the town that he was Pearl’s father. He even had a chance when Hester was standing on the scaffold. He wanted to confess to his sin, but he wasn’t strong enough to do it himself. He even tried to get Hester to confess for him. “’I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sinner! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it ...

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...or this! - I cannot forgive thee!” Hester was wrong by not telling him that Chillingworth was her husband, but it was Dimmesdale’s fault that he even needed Chillingworth in the first place. It was not until just before he dies does he chooses to reveal that he is Pearl’s father, and by then it was far too late.
Overall, Dimmesdale’s sin was the worst because he did not repent to it, or even admit that he had committed the sin at all. The Scarlet Letter shows how much of a sin it is to be a coward and not own up to one’s mistakes. A sin can be forgiven only if one confesses that he or she committed the crime in the first place. Sins must be forgiven in order to live happily and be at peace. A sin left unforgiven will consume one’s entire being.

Works Cited

1. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Ross C. Murfin. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. Print.

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