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Hawthorne

 

            In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a number of themes but the most important and significant are guilt, alienation, and redemption. Through out Scarlet Letter we see transference of guilt, and with that comes redemption from sin. Another theme that plays a big role is alienation; in order to amend or do penance for your sin you must be shown away by society.
             The transference of guilt commences with Hawthorn's ancestors, and then it transfers to Hawthorne. Hawthorne then decides to write a story to justify the actions regarding his antecedents, who played a big part in Puritanism and in the Salem witch trials. Because of the wrong doings that his antecedents did he felt the need to repent for it. He then transfers his guilt to his story protagonist, Hester Prynne whom commits adultery - which was considered one of the biggest sins in the puritan days. Prynne is to wear a red scarlet letter, the letter A. Then it lingers around Chillingworth - who's responsible for giving guilt. Chillingworth transfers it to Dimmesdale by tormenting him and making him remember his sin everyday for the rest of his life.
             Hawthorne uses symbolism to show the alienation of Prynne by making her wear this bright red scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. The scarlet letter stands out because everyone wears black. gray or very dark colors. Prynne becomes an outcast; not even the sun shines where she walks. .
             Another important theme is redemption. Hawthorne redeems his guilt by writing the Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is used in order to show how they redeemed their sins. Prynne does penance by wearing the letter A, which is a symbol for several things, anguish, atonement and adultery - but also her good works, able, etc. Reverend Dimmesdale redeems his sin by whipping himself with a whipped lock. He also carves the letter A on his chest and he later dies - we don't know why he dies - presumably because he was too weak to stand the force of his confession.


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