The Effects Of Sin In The Scarlet Letter.
It is a fact that in time, we all have committed sins. The severity of the punishment is very difficult to agree on though. Some people feel that sinners should be punished severely no matter how little the sin was. Many other people feel that a person's punishment should be based on how severe the sin was. However, what many people overlook is that people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne which revolves around the theme of sin. Hester Prynne was a young woman living in a Puritan community in Salem, Massachusetts. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, was said t be lost at sea, and Hester assumed he was dead. Upon this assumption, Hester committed a crime of adultery with her fellow minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. The result of this affair was the birth of a daughter named Pearl. When the townspeople became aware of what Hester has done, they forced her to wear a sign of punishment, the scarlet letter. This letter "A," which stands for adultery, had to be worn at all times.
Roger Chillingworth returns to Salem and explains to Hester that he was captured by Indians and held captive. He convinces Hester not to reveal that he is her long lost husband but swears that he will find and seek revenge on the father of her baby. Roger Chillingworth, who is a physician, moves in with Reverend Dimmesdale because Dimmesdale is growing ill. While living with Dimmesdale, he discovers that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl and seeks revenge on him by hurting him more than curing him of his illness. On the day that Arthur is planning on running away with Hester and Pearl, he instead walks up to the scaffold with Hester and Pearl to reveal his sin to his congregation. He confesses everything and dies right there in front of everyone. Less than a year later, Roger Chillingworth dies because he has nothing to live for anymore now that Dimmesdale is dead.
