Sin and Redemption in 'The Scarlet Letter'

339 Words1 Page

The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” portrays the basic concept of good and evil in a Puritan New England society during the 1600s. It is told through a narrative about one woman, Hester Prynne, who committed a great sin against her virtue. This sin consumes not only Hester, but also the small rural community that she calls home. Just the word “sin” pulls the reader into the story. “The Scarlet Letter” is full of complex symbolism with a variety of avenues to analyze why the focus of sin makes an appearance in the main topic of this fictional story. Sin can imply to some a struggle of good versus evil in every individual based on one’s belief in Christianity in the long time battle between God and Satan. Furthermore,

Show More
Related

  • Hester Prynne Greed In Scarlet Letter

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Sinful Nature In The Scarlet Letter

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    A sinful nature is an aspect in man that makes him rebellious against God. Everyone has a sinful nature and it affects every part of us. Sin corrupts the human mind and has consequences for doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord. Every individual on Earth sins, and this is represented in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale to portray how different people cope with their sin and the consequences of that sin.

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Analysis

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Scarlet Letter and the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates romantic elements, such as beauty, truth, innocence, and sin, in his criticism of Puritan societies. In both texts, Hawthorne argues that all people, even those in strictly religious societies with corrupted standards, are capable of sin. Hawthorne uses symbolism and light and dark imagery to convey his argument.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Scaffold of Sin in The Scarlet Letter

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    the height of a mans shoulders above the street . . . . The unhappy culprit

    Read More

  • Guilt in the Scarlet Letter

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    Guilt is a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, whether real or imagined. There are different types of guilt. Guilt can be caused by a physical thing a person did that he isn’t proud of, or wanted to hide, can be something a person imagined he did to someone or something else, or can be caused when a person did something to his God or religion. Everyone at some time in his or her life has a run in with guilt, and it has a different impact on each person. People, who are feeling guilty because of something they did or said, can influence how other people act and feel. Some people are affected worse by guilt than others, for example, Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter. Talked about in The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, a man with the deepest guilt, was responsible for the moral well-being of his people. He went against his teachings, committed adultery, and left the woman to suffer publicly alone while he stayed like a hero in the town. On the other hand, sometimes the masses are affected by one person’s guilt. He was affected much more by guilt, because he didn’t tell anyone of what he had done. By keeping guilt internalized, a person ultimately ends up hurting himself. More than seventy percent of all things that make people feel guilty are found out later on in their life by other people. Guilt has three categories that it affects the most in people: physical, mental, and spiritual.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Corruption In The Scarlet Letter

    1801 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anything can be destructive and evil if one gives it enough power. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter there are many arguments stemming from government and its ability to be corrupted easily. Although Bensick asserts that Hawthorne shows the corruptness of the government and those a part of it with the use of characterization, irony, and symbols. While Korobkin states that he used them to show that the magistrates were just and made the decisions that were better for not only Hester but also the community. One can discern that the characterization, irony, and symbols were to show that the magistrates were the reason the United States judicial system operates the way it does.

    Read More

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the Puritan community banned all forms of sin. Sin was looked upon as evil, being connected to the devil and his dark ways. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, was shunned by the rest of the Puritan world after committing the sin of adultery. She lived in a world where it was not accepted. She was isolated from the world around her, having little hope. Throughout the novel, symbols such as the character of the kind woman, the wild rose bush outside of the prison doors and the character of Pearl, Hester Prynne's illegitimate child, are used to show that even in a world full of sin and darkness, there is always hope.

    Read More

  • The Sin of Hester Prynne

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adultery is considered evil by Puritan belief (Korobkin 3). In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s Scarlet “A” goes against the Puritan community and culture with her conceal of sin, which has negative as well as positive results. Hester was a passionate, persistent woman who wanted to turn her sin into a positive act (Stewart 56).

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter: The Response to Sin

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nathanial Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin trough Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth who all affected by sin in different ways. Utilizing powerful symbols and light/dark imagery, Hawthorne conveys to the readers, through these characters, the power of how one’s response to sin can positively change an individual or gradually destroy one by spreading like a contagious disease and ultimately consuming the victim.

    Read More

  • Sin in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter is a novel that deals with the theme of sin. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished. However, the severity of a punishment is very difficult to agree on. Some people feel that sinners should be deeply punished no matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins.

    Read More

  • Moral and Social Themes in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Hester Prynne Change In The Scarlet Letter

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, expressed ideas of love, passion, shame, and punishment throughout his 1800s based novel. Due to the fact that this novel was based in a Puritan time period, it brought many mental and sometimes physical difficulties for the main character, Hester Prynne. The Puritans solely believed in God and all of his rules. With that said, the author decided to illustrate the drama of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s adultery in order to describe the change in Hester’s attitude. Because of the many events, adversities and struggles, Hester had a complete change in attitude from shame and embarrassment to love, proudness and satisfaction.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal Of Hester Prynne In D. H. Lawrence's 'Scarlet Letter'

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    The portrayal of Hester Prynne in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, has been highly criticized, and many debate upon the angelic or sinful light that Hester Prynne represents. The author and critic, D.H. Lawrence, focuses on Hester’s sin in his critical essay, where Lawrence targets her, not as the victim, but as an ultimate sinner as she should be viewed, based on traditional Puritan values. Lawrence achieves his purpose that Hester should be viewed in a sinful light through his bullet-like syntax, negative and hateful diction, and his critical and disapproving tone.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Allegory In The Scarlet Letter

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the scaffold representing unity to the scarlet letter frightening away townspeople, there are numerous allegories in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. An allegory, by definition, is a symbolic representation, which has been seen to correspond with the plot of the story. Hawthorne bestowed all of the characters as allegories themselves, from the devil to Adam and Eve. Even more so, the commonality items of the novel represent a deeper meaning that when evoked to the reader, the allegory can pose a profound image of idealism not found from reading the text itself. Hawthorne portrays both characters and objects as allegories that serve as substantial representations to the deeper understanding of the plot.

    Read More

More about Sin and Redemption in 'The Scarlet Letter'

Open Document