Unjust Justice In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

Unjust Justice: The Efficacy of Secularism and Religion

“Were I an atheist, —a man devoid of conscience,— a wretch with coarse and brutal instinct,— I might have found peace” remarks the most holy and most righteous man, the cherished reverend of the Puritan community, Arthur Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter (175). Dimmesdale's devotion ought to be solely to God; yet, he desires to be free from the shackles of religion. Why would the most religious man desire so vehemently to sever his ties to God?

Dimmesdale, as well as Hester, are symbols Hawthorne uses for religion and secularism, respectively. Hawthorne indicates that religion might be a source of comfort, but never justice; furthermore, he criticizes the Puritans’ religious notion of justice

and argues that justice should be secular. The Puritans associate their government —just as they do everything— with religion. Hawthorne asserts that the Puritan government was not as effective as they believed it to be. A government’s duty is to enforce justice and moreover, to use justice as a mean of allowing people to rejoin society. Through the depiction of Hester’s rehabilitation, Dimmesdale’s suffering, and the societal perception of each, Hawthorne demonstrates that religion is an insufficient basis of government; government requires a more steadfast and simultaneously more flexible basis, secularism.
Hawthorne employs Hester as a manifestation of secular justice. Hester’s association with secularism is apparent in the locations in which she is tried. Immediately, Hester emerges from secular confinement, namely, jail. Later, the decision about whether Pearl was to be taken away is made in the Governor Bellingham's hall. Her final judgement by Dimmesdale occurs in the forest, away from the religious town altogether. Each location either strongly suggests secular authority or the lack of a religious one. Furthermore, Hester’s separation from the religious society altogether deprives her of religious influence; i.e., she is a product of secularism, which is further emphasized through her actions. “It is probable that there was an idea of penance in this mode of occupation” (75). Rather than do practice penance through ordinary means such as praying as the Puritans would likely advise, she devotes her time to this “rude handiwork,” as a means to recompense for her sin (75). Through her isolation from the Puritan society, she has come to the conclusion that God was, in fact, the one to whom all her suffering was owed. When Hester meets Dimmesdale in the forest, she neglects God and yearns only for Dimmesdale’s forgiveness: “Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive” (178). Hawthorne uses Hester’s plea to man and not a deity to show the ultimate power of secularism over religion.
Moreover, Hawthorne indicates that Hester’s justice is rehabilitative. Rehabilitation requires two steps: recognition and repair. Hester takes the first step as she steps onto the scaffold: “these were her realities, all else had vanished” (53). She takes the second step when arguing for the right to keep Pearl: “this badge hath taught me, —it daily teaches me, — it is teaching me at this moment” (100). Hester has the choice of what to do with her life: remain sedentary and morose, or actively seek ways to recompense for her transgression. She chooses the latter and through her attempts to change, she gradually overcomes the guilt and agony she endures for so long. Moreover, Hester is able to rejoin society in a non-sinful capacity. The success of her rehabilitation shows the success derived from a secular justice system.
The benefit of a secular justice system is indubitable; it provides both an opportunity for atonement and for rehabilitation. Hester “came to have a part to perform in the world. With her native energy of character, and rare capacity, it could not entirely cast her off” (75). Hester’s unique expertise in embroidery allows her to both to redeem herself and to assist other members of the community. On the other hand, if Hester were condemned to the common punishment for her crime, which “thereof [was] death,” Hester would have no chance for redemption. The standard Puritan punishment demonstrates in itself how evil the Puritan justice system is. Secular punishment, albeit cruel nonetheless, grants her the opportunity to forgive herself and to gain the approval of the Puritans.
Dimmesdale, on the other hand, serves as Hawthorne’s device for religious justice. Dimmesdale is the paragon of virtue in the eyes of the Puritans, making him the ideal example for Hawthorne: “his eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession” (59). Despite his “holiness,” his sin does not remain unnoticed by God: “a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into [Satan’s] kingdom” (125). According to Hawthorne, the Puritan notion of religious justice corresponds to the idea that God is all-knowing, and will smite sinners whose sins are concealed from the public. Although the Puritan crowd fails to perceive it, Dimmesdale is heavily mired in shame and guilt. Moreover, his shame and guilt persist until his death; unlike, he lives in eternal damnation without being given a second chance, similar to a notion of Hell. Hawthorne also alludes to the problem of evil: if God were omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent, why would anyone carry out such destructive and malevolent actions? Furthermore, if the world were perfect, is the idea of religious justice not paradoxical? Upon the scaffold, Dimmesdale calls out to Reverend Wilson who “continues] to step slowly onward,... and never once turning his head towards the guilty platform” (136). If even Dimmesdale, an agent of God, is neglected by Wilson, another religious authority, how can people less holy possibly be given a chance to redeem themselves? Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale’s torment to illustrate the cruelty and bizarreness of a religious justice.
Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale’s prolonged misery to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of religious justice. Whenever reminded of the sin, Dimmesdale “his hand over his heart with first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain” (108). If everyone were inclined to receive the same punishment, they would forever remain corrupt. The phases he undergoes marks a stark contrast from Hester: he is unable to participate in rehabilitation. The flush indicates that Dimmesdale recognizes what he has done wrong. The paleness of his mien, however, suggests that Dimmesdale is unable to cope with nor forgive himself for his wrongdoing, resulting in the pain feels. Dimmesdale is able to take the first step in rehabilitation, but religion prohibits him from taking the second. Hawthorne insinuates that religion’s lack of power to persuade renders any appeal to religion for restitution is entirely in vain. Furthermore, religion might function as a sanctuary for those who are suffering, but although religion might serve as a source of comfort, by no means does is it serve as a source of justice. Unlike secularism, religion offers no opportunity for self-improvement, which is a necessity of government. Hawthorne thus demonstrates that the intention of religion may not be for justice and if so, the Puritan government fails simply by using religion as grounds for justice.
The Puritan community’s view of Dimmesdale reflects the faulty foundation upon which it was built, religion. As the most prominent minister in Puritan Boston, Dimmesdale significantly influences the beliefs and actions of the Puritans. Dimmesdale is the person appointed to absolve people of their sins, but he is incapable of absolving even himself. “He had told his hearers that he was a vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity.… They heard it all, and did but reverence him more” (130). The Puritan’s blind devotion shows merely how powerful and deceiving religion can be. How then is someone so disgraceful as Dimmesdale an apt choice as a leader of the community? His efforts to dissuade people from listening to him yield the exact opposite of his intended result. If Dimmesdale is so corrupted by religion, does that corruption not ebb to his followers? Hawthorne suggests that if a government were founded upon such a broken system, surely it would render the government an absolute disaster.
Likewise, the Puritans’ change in attitude towards Hester indicates the potency of secular justice.

At first, the crowd shares a common apathy for Hester: “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (46). The community’s opinion starkly shifts from viewing Hester as the guilt-ridden adulterer standing on the scaffold to an exemplary citizen of Boston. After her rehabilitation, “they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since” (147). Not only do the Puritans see the scarlet differently, the actual significance of the scarlet letter changes from religion to secularism. Hawthorne uses this alteration in the scarlet letter’s symbolism to demonstrate that secular justice has power even over violations of religious code. Women, who suffered tribulations similar to Hester’s, seek comfort and advice from her; they yearn to undergo their own rehabilitation in hopes of one day becoming part of a society in which they are not subject to such cruel condemnation:

Women, more especially, —in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion,— or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought,— came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched and what the remedy.

(240-241)

These women do not, however, appeal to religion. Hawthorne makes this contrast to show that not even comfort is sought —the only thing that religion can provide—, let alone redemption, from religion. This distinction presents how much more efficacious secular justice is in comparison to religious justice.
Hawthorne argues that in order to have a strong government, there must first be a solid foundation built upon secular regulation. He illustrates a parallelism between Boston and the Garden of Eden. Hester’s banishment from the holy society of Puritans echoes Eve’s expulsion from the “perfect” world of God. Neither Hester nor Eve belong in a pure society, and nor does anyone else; the very idea of a “pure” society is absurd according to Hawthorne. The world was not meant to be ruled by God, heaven was; the world was meant to be ruled by men.