Sin In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

The Puritan society itself was an example in hypocrisy. They claim to be firm believers in the Bible, but the Bible encourages forgiveness and acceptance. The whole society was based on religious education. So why was the first thing to be built in Boston a prison? A prison is a place of punishment not a place of mercy and compassion. Another example of religious hypocrisy happened early in the book. The author described some conversing between housewives that were talking about Hester's crime and her consequences. Each one of the housewives was encouraging harsher punishment for her. Housewife 36 said, "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madam Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me." Hypocrisy and religion tend to go hand in hand. Misinterpretation of God by those people who hold power is a sin. It’s impossible to really believe in a religion, and feel right in assassination or maltreating of others. Hypocrisy was present in Puritan society

There are three main sinners in The Scarlet Letter and they all sin a lot in many situations in the book. The biggest sinner happens to be Hester, although she is a favorite and the main character she still is very manipulative and persuasive in tough situations. She obviously commits adultery because she has Pearl, but even after that she tried to put the blame on other people to shadow over the fact that she is in the blame too. Hester is the biggest sinner because she does not take responsibility for her own mistakes she has made in the past, and tries to dump them off on other people. First Hester commits adultery with Dimmesdale which she can not deny because of the child she gave birth to.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around sin and punishment.  The main characters of the novel sharply contrast each other in the way they react to the sin that has been committed

In essence, there were three main sins committed in The Scarlet Letter, the sins of Hester, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Roger Chillingworth committed the greatest sin because he let himself be ruled by hatred and the consuming desire for vengeance.  The overpowering vengeance and hatred felt by Chillingworth caused his life to be centered on demeaning Dimmesdale and tormenting him until the end of time.  Both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale committed sins for which they were deeply remorseful, Roger Chillingworth, however, committed the greater sin because he felt no guilt.

Sin Signs, like the one Hester wore in The Scarlet Letter, would totally change our society. Sin would be looked at differently, judgement would be seldom(because everyone would have one), and happiness would be rare. This means that whenever you sin, it appears on your chest, if you have never done that sin before. God is a gracious One, so he would not do this to us. If He did, though, many of us would be more humble than we are now.

Nathaniel Hawthorne,  a anti-transcendentalists, born during the early 1800’s, born in Salem, made a book called The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was a book about Puritans in New England, during the 1600’s in a small Puritan town. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism of The Scarlet Letter, Pearl and Burrs to contribute to the overall theme of sin.

There are many characters in The Scarlet Letter. Each of these characters sins in various ways, but the one that commits the greatest sin is Chillingworth. Chillingworth, instead of forgiving Dimmesdale, decides, with vile hate in his heart the whole time, to torment him. This tormenting lasts several years and reduces Dimmesdale to a feeble state in mind and body.

Questioning would have thrown their world into turmoil. They liked simple, written laws. Laws of the heart were unimportant; after all, how could one live by laws that were not even verbalized or written in any way? Puritan society was so rigid, so strict, that other rules were not even considered. Hester's sin comes from her refusal to ignore that other set of rules: the rules of her soul. I read about Hester's predicament and think, "She was following her heart. How is being true to herself a sin?" But in the 17th century in Puritan America, the individual did not create rules. Society did. Granted, the structure and laws of society are needed to some extent in order to prevent chaos. But some matters are not the business of government. Hester's sin should have been private, if it had been a sin at all in her eyes. She could not escape societal laws, though, and her sin darkened in her eyes and made her ashamed.

Sin is something humans are aware of but sometimes forget how much of an effect it can have on their lives. The different ways people go about obtaining sin in their hearts and minds vary, but no matter how severe the act committed is, the consequence sin has on someone is equally powerful. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses adultery as a way to show the power sin has through a woman named Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne is a young woman who commits adultery with the minister of Boston, Arthur Dimmesdale, and conceived a child named Pearl. Throughout the novel, the sin of committing adultery affects everyone involved. The way Hawthorne conveys sin throughout the novel makes people wonder if their sins are impacting themselves and

Through out the course of history, those who were considered sinners were often out casted from the society. This is much the case with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After a public trial, Hester is considered a sinner due to her birthing of a so called “devil child”. Hester is convicted to the life long bearing of a scarlet letter on her chest. The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears symbolizes the change in perception of sin through out the novel. Due to the revelations of the governor Winthrop and the reverend Dimmesdale, the way sin is perceived changes from one of shame to the idea that every one is a sinner in their own right.

The Sin of All Sins Are all sins truly equal? Some may say so, but Nathaniel Hawthorne would not agree. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with her minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. She becomes pregnant with an illegitimate child. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, then makes it his goal to figure out the identity of the father.

Overall, sin can change the view of many lives, some for the better or some for the worse. The novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts three forms sin can affect someone: hatred, guilt, and wisdom. Through hatred people's lives can become malicious, like Chillingworth’s consistent revenge. Guilt is show in the way Dimmesdale responds to not telling the town what he did. Wisdom is displayed through the actions of Hester. She sees that everyone conceals sin in their lives. Sin changes the lives of many people, not just the few people involved, but the people all around the

In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates the Puritan society to be arbitrary and harsh toward sin. However, the people of our modern society tend to treat sin with less judgment and criticism. The main character of the novel, Hester Prynne, is charged with adultery and is treated with little respect by the people of her colony. In today’s time, people rather than shun others for their sin, they instead use their sin as a form of entertainment. People watch shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant every week that portray young girls who got pregnant by engaging in premarital sex.

   Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne repeatedly portrays the Puritanical views of sin and evil.  The Puritans are constantly displayed as believing that evil comes from an unyielding bond being formed between love and hate.  For such reasons they looked towards Hester's commitment of adultery as an action of pure, condemned evil.  However, through the use of light and dark imagery, Hawthorne displays who truly holds evil in their hearts.  The one who is the embodiment of evil creates hypocrisy of Puritanical views towards sin and evil.  Hawthorne displays that those who expose sin to the public and the daylight are the most pure and those who conceal their sin under a

develops the theme of the destructiveness of guilt and unconfessed sin to a person’s body and