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Gifts Of Evil
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are many characters who have committed sins. In Puritan community they followed the word of god and banned all sins. These sins in The Scarlet Letter were look as The Black Mans work meaning satans work. The sins committed were harmful and hurtful to people and their souls. Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale committed adultery with bearing a child named Pearl. But Roger Chillingworth committed the worst sin by using his gifts for evil.
Hester Prynne was the main character in the Scarlet Letter. Hester sin was committing adultery with minister Arthur Dimmsdale. Birthing a child named Pearl of pure sin. By committing her sin they punished her. “‘If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!" (98 ) The community made her stand on the scaffold for public humiliation. Wearing the letter “A” on her garments meaning Adultery as another punishment. The community shunned Hester and Pearl looking at them as satans work. Hester believes that she should remain in Boston since that were her crime of adultery was committed making it as a reminder to herself what shes have done. Also staying to protect Dimmesdale from Chillingworth.
Reverend Dimmesdale was the puritan minister in Boston. Dimmesdale's sin was committing adultery with Hester creating a child named Pearl. Dimmesdale kept his sin a secret protecting himself. “‘Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal...
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...o confess during his lifetime.(191)
Chillingworth found weeds in the graveyard making Dimmesdale memory reflect upon him about his secret. By Chillingworth going to graveyard it shows him doing satan's work picking weeds off the graves.
Roger Chillingworth committed the worst sin by using his gifts for evil. Roger Chillingworth was a doctor treating Mr. Dimmesdale. By him using his knowledge and skills he kept him alive to watch him suffer because he knew Dimmesdale and Hester sin. Keeping Dimmesdale alive also made Pearl suffer because Dimmesdale never claimed her and she didn't know who her father was . I believe that he was worst sinner because he lept Dimmesdale alive making him suffer but also making everyone suffer around him by his consequences.
Work Cited
IBooks: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Leipzig: List, 1954. Print.
Hester Prynne, the protagonist in the book The Scarlet Letter, has committed the sin of adultery, but learned to use that mistake as a form of strength. Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, sent her to America and was supposed to follow her, but never arrived in Boston. While Hester was waiting on Chillingworth, she had an affair with the town minister, Dimmesdale. As a result, Hester gave birth to a beautiful daughter and was forced to wear the scarlet
During this puritan time in the 1600s. Nathaniel Hawthorne who is an anti-transcendentalist speaks about sin. But not just any sin, secret sin in this novel “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne expresses many themes and symbols in many strange and mysterious ways. Hawthorne is a very dark and devious man. The scarlet letter A that is embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery. Adultery is the sin that she has committed. Hester had a whole husband and made a baby with a man that wasn’t the husband. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Hester’s Cabin, Leeches, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of Good Vs. Evil.
Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he considers it less serious than those of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester’s sin was a sin of passion. This sin was openly acknowledged as she wore the "A" on her chest. Hester did not commit the greatest sin of the novel. She did not deliberately mean to commit her sin or mean to hurt others.
...d making his condition even worse by not confessing his sin. It was his own choice to keep his sin a secret when he should have confessed it a long time ago. Also, it was his own choice to torture himself. Dimmesdale believed that he should be the one punishing himself because his sin was a secret so therefore he had to deal with it and punish his sin on his own, minus the torturing from Chillingworth. Therefore, Hawthorne describes sinning as being better if the sin is a public sin and not a private sin and he also believed that one chooses to become evil. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are tremendous examples of Hawthorne’s definition of sin and evil.
A normal man would be expected to feel the guilt of bringing pain to another person, but Chillingworth’s ideals were so far warped by his need to evil satisfaction that this greed turned to be almost satanic. He twisted his conversations with Dimmesdale in their home in order to further dig Dimmesdale’s pain and guilt into him. Chillingworth would poke and prod on sensitive topics in order to reinforce to Dimmesdale the bad aspects of the sin that he committed. Chillingworth would say horrible things about sinners like Dimmesdale saying that “ ‘These men deceive themselves… They fear to take up the shame that rightfully belongs to them… holy impulses may or may not coexist in their hearts with the evil inmates to which their guilt has unbarred the door, and which must needs propagate a hellish breed within them’ ” (88-89). Chillingworth directly criticizes Dimmesdale for what he has done, and theoretically is driving this knife of guilt deeper and deeper into Dimmesdale’s heart. Dimmesdale is already ashamed of his actions, and Chillingworth knows this, but sees that he should further hurt Dimmesdale for the sin that he committed against him. Chillingworth criticizes Dimmesdale for virtually his entire way of life, and shames him for his actions even when he knowns the suffering that Dimmesdale already goes through. This evil and
All throughout The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is faced with challenge after challenge. Her first obstacle is her sin, which is without consequence. For Hester, this consequence is Pearl, her love child. Her beautiful daughter also presents herself as a constant reminder of the sin Hester has committed. While raising Pearl, it is evident that the pair is not welcome in the town, which leads Hester and Pearl to leave outsiders. Hester Prynne seems to be the ultimate optomist in this novel because whatever difficulty she faces she conquers with a cool head and courage.
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.
In Nathanial Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne represents the exposed sin while Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth represent the hidden sin. Hester Prynnes sin is exposed on the scaffold in front of the townspeople. For punishment she is made to wear the letter A, for adulteress, on her bosom. Hesters daughter, Pearl, is herself a symbol of the scarlet letter. Pearl is always seen with Hester just as t...
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.
...rth's crimes against the Lord are more malevolent than those committed by Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale. Chillingworth's quest for revenge and truth leads him down a path of sin, and in the Puritan perspective, down the path to Hell.
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
Hester’s role in the story is described as sleeping with a priest and got accused of committing adultery and got punished by having to wear a scarlet letter “A” on the breast of her gown (Hawthorne 71). Hester Prynne’s punishment is to go to prison and then with her child, Pearl, go and stand out on the platform in front of everybody wearing her scarlet letter on the breast of her gown (Howells). Hester...
...Now go thy ways, and deal as thou wilt with yonder man” (Hawthorne, 192). Chillingworth’s plan for revenge is based on Dimmesdale not confessing to his crime.
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.
Throughout all the sinful things Hester Prynne has done, she still managed to obtain good qualities. Hester was an adulterer from the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester was looked down upon by the citizens of Boston because of the sin she and another person committed, but no one knew who her partner in crime was because she refused to release his name. Towards the very end of the story Hester’s accomplice confessed and left Hester and Pearl feeling joyous, because now they didn’t have to keep in a secret. Hester is a trustworthy, helpful, and brave woman throughout The Scarlet Letter.