Some say to sin is to go to hell, some say sin is a scourge of human nature, some say sin must be confessed, and some say sin must be forced out of people through punishment. The internal consequences of believing one has sinned are more intangible than social attitudes toward sin, but they appear just as often and in just as many different ways. The novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, exudes sin. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses symbolism to demonstrate the effects of sin not only on public reputation, but also on one’s psychological state. The Scarlet Letter A, which Hester Prynne wears on her chest as punishment for adultery, causes her anguish through ignominy but allows her to improve over time through the public nature of her disgrace. Chillingworth, the leech, punishes Reverend Dimmesdale for his concealed sin, and yet at the same time wastes away due to his own sin of sucking the life out of Dimmesdale. Pearl, the illegitimate child of Hester and Dimmesdale, embodies both the open and the concealed sin of her parents. She is unable to be normal because of this and takes on wild and elf-like qualities.
The scarlet letter A marks sin and inflicts punishment for it. It primarily represents open sin and it consequences, such as public shame, as it is worn upon Hester’s breast to punish her for adultery. The ignominy of the letter devastates Hester. “If she survive, the tenderness will either be crushed out of her, or . . . crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more” (Chapter 13 p. 148). She is tormented by the anguish of her humiliation. Through this she loses much of her tenderness and passion and reverts to be being cold and numb. The pain of her sin numbs her to her own pain. ...
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... the story. Dimmesdale is torn apart by the guilt of his concealed sin and his concealed letter A and ends up dying as a consequence. The leech, Chillingworth, is partly responsible for Dimmesdale’s agony and he himself suffers from his sinful leech-like actions of sucking another man's life force away. Pearl is born of sin and is a reminder of sin to her mother. She is airy and wild while the sin still traps her, but after Dimmesdale confesses and frees her from the sin, she represents hope because she can lead a normal life. While sin means something different to everyone, belief that one has sinned often has emotional consequences that are difficult to get past. Although our own experiences may not be as dramatic as those of the characters in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reminds us that sin and its consequences are significant in shaping our lives and ourselves.
People all over the world continuously commit sins some are bigger than others and some do more damage. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman, Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed and force to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom for committing adultery. Throughout the book, Hester and her daughter, Pearl, try to adapt to life as an outsider. The two are continuously judged for Hester’s sin, and humiliated, however, they overcome this judgment and are seen in a different way. Hester and Pearl have been publicly shamed, Pearl has been considered an elfish devil like child, and after all the humiliation they were able to turn their lives around.
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
First, there many instances, both literal and symbolic, which support the notion that the scarlet letter has a strong affect on Hester. As seen early in the novel, the public opinion of a seventeenth century puritan society can be quite narrow-minded. As Hester is first marched out of the prison, the women of the town scowl at her. "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead." (p.36) The initial opinion of the society is extremely cruel and Hester, who tries desperately to remain strong and undisturbed in the face of this mob anger, is by no means deaf. The cruel actions of the townspeople throughout the novel contribute to the ways in which the scarlet letter affects Hester. Yet, these affects of the scarlet letter on Hester can be defined more specifically when examined on the symbolic level. In many ways, Hes...
The Puritan life is based purely on sin. The Puritans believe that all people are sinners and are thus despised and hated by God. Sinners are subject to the worst punishments and suffer the worst torment. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, several characters serve as models of sinners in agony from their error. Both Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne bear the punishment of their adultery, which evidenced itself in their daughter Pearl. While Dimmesdale plagues himself with guilt and Hester lives with the brand of the scarlet "A", it is Pearl who receives the worst penalty, suffering for a sin which she did not even commit. The village where she resides associates her with the circumstances of her birth, branding her with a reputation as difficult to bear as her mother's. Although many in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter endure the results of sin, none have punishment equal to that of little Pearl's.
the height of a mans shoulders above the street . . . . The unhappy culprit
Through the use of numerous symbols, Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter serves as an allegory for the story of Adam and Eve and its relation to sin, knowledge, and the human condition that is present in human society. Curious for the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, which resulted in the revelation of their “humanness” and expulsion from the “divine garden” as they then suffered the pain and joy of being humans. Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from their society and suffered in their own being, so were Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter. Hester was out casted and shunned, while Dimmesdale suffered under his own guilt. After knowledge of her affair is made known, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest to symbolize her crime of adultery, and is separated from the Puritan society. Another “A” appears in the story, and is not embroidered, but instead scarred on Dimmesdale’s chest as a symbol of guilt and suffering. Hester’s symbol of guilt comes in the form of her daughter, Pearl, who is the manifestation of her adultery, and also the living version of her scarlet letter. Each of these symbols come together to represent that with sin comes personal growth and advancement of oneself in society as the sinner endures the good and bad consequences.
The Puritans mean for the scarlet letter to be a symbol of Hester's shame, but the narrator describes the letter as a "mystic symbol" which makes it more than just a mark of humiliation. The letter thoroughly represents Hester's adultery, but as she grows and changes in the novel, the letter's symbolism evolves as well. For example, it comes to mean "able" when she becomes a successful seamstress, and Dimmesdale refers to Hester twice as "angel," giving the letter yet another meaning. The letter begins to represent a type of holiness. It has "the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril. Had she fallen among thieves, it would have kept her safe" (Hawthorne 142). Hester herself dictates the meaning of the “A”. By embroidering it so beautifully, she is essentially taking control of her own punishment, and takes ownership of it. The letter showcases her talent and artistry, skills that allow her to make a living as a single parent in a Puritan community. Further, many years later, when Hester returns and voluntarily takes up the scarlet letter again, it has become, for her and others, a symbol of grace: "a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked up with awe, yet with reverence too" (Hawthorne 232). In the end, the letter comes to symbolize
For ages, humans have been condemned for their misdemeanors and insubordination towards society's strict justice system; though, at a first glance, this suggests a degrading society, the classification and branding of a person who has committed a sin is what characterizes humans as human beings. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, which sets during the early colonization of America, The Scarlet Letter bears a tale of a married woman, named Hester Prynne, who commits adultery with the Minister of Boston, Massachusetts, Arthur Dimmesdale, where they both share their perceptive daughter, Pearl. Though Hester's husband, who is originally a resident of Europe, discovers this shameful truth about his wife, Roger Chillingworth embarks on a journey of vengeance to ascertain the name of the man who has eluded his punishment for adultery. On the other hand, Hester Prynne is branded with the scarlet letter, serving as to shower shame onto Hester while incarcerating her into public humility. Although many individuals are incapable of attaining true redemption, the scarlet letter, whose primary purpose was to bring shame to Hester, failed to carry out its office. As a result, the letter configured itself to Hester and the society in which she resided in, all while acquiring a multitude of meanings as Hester, and other characters, begin to understand the meaning and themselves even further.
In its original purpose, the scarlet letter is inherently a symbol of shame, and this opinion is strengthened by the support of many people, including many townspeople, Chillingworth, and, most markedly, Hester. This is most evident just before and during the public shaming of Hester on the scaffold. One townswoman decries Hester’s audacity in embellishing the scarlet letter so openly in saying about it: “What is it, but to laugh in the faces of our godly
The scarlet letter serves as a punishment for Hester’s adultery, an act that grew out of her passionate love with Dimmesdale. Like a burn, it is a painful reminder of the affection and intimacy they once shared. The symbol is ...
The Scarlet Letter initially represented her sin and taint, causing her to be criticized and outcasted. It was supposed to serve as a punishment, but Hester kept a positive outlook, and it was seen that “such helpfulness was found in her, -so much power to do, and power to sympathize (p. 122).” This transformed the original meaning of the letter from adultery to able, signifying Hester’s strength.
The purpose of the scarlet letter is not fulfilled according to the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was put upon Hester’s bosom to claim her unholiness but instead the "punishment" served as a way for Hester to grow stronger. The townspeople were the first to see first introduction of Hester. She was looked down on since the branding of the letter “A” upon her bosom. She was a "figure of perfect elegance" compared to the Puritan women of "brief beauty" (Hawthorne pg.: 55, 57). Right from the start, Hester appears to be different from those around her, suggesting a rebellious attitude to the traditions and customs of the time where church and state were still considered to be the central government at the time. She was different from others due to her nature of her being. Hester wasn’t like all other women. If another woman were to be branded an adulteress, that woman would have probably try to keep her sin away from the townspeople and forever keep their peace. Hester on the other hand, had the bravery and boldness in her that did not frighten her to show off what she did wrong. She may have had the intention that...
In the first chapters of the novel, Hester was punished to wear an "A" on her chest at all times. The "A" is a punishment for the adultery she committed with the towns own Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Instead of making it into something that people looked down upon, as something horrific and disgusting on her chest, she made it look like a beautiful, gleaming gem. She made it out of the most gorgeous sparkling gold threads that caught everyone's eye. A quote in chapter two described the scarlet letter as "so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself." That shows how she is a confident and very individual person. No other woman would have as much courage as she did to make a punishment into an attraction.
Sin is defined as a transgression of a religious or moral law especially when deliberate. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne one of the main points in the book is relating to sin and how it can affect people. Hawthorne uses several methods to convey the nature of sin through his characters and symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. The scarlet A on the chest of Hester Prynne and Hester herself represent known sin. She commits adultery and is caught. The A is her punishment as well as a reminder to her about sinning. The child of sin and Hester is named Pearl. She symbolises the product of sin and sin itself. The third member of the sinning perty is Dimsdale. He is loved and treated with respect by the towns people. No one but him knows that he too has sinned. Hawthorne uses that character to represent hidden sin and guilt. Three different aspects of sin represented by three different characters in The Scarlet Letter.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there are many moral and social themes develped throughout the novel. Each theme is very important to the overall effect of the novel. In essence, The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of truth. One theme which plays a big role in The Scarlet Letter is that of sin and its effects. Throughout the novel there were many sins committed by various characters. The effects of these sins are different in each character and every character was punished in a unique way. Two characters were perfect examples of this theme in the novel. Hester Prynne and The Reverend Dimmesdale best demonstrated the theme of the effects of sin.