What is the difference between revenge and punishment? I think that revenge is more of a personal form of justice and is done for the satisfaction of an individual. Punishment is an authoritative form of justice given to an individual by society or by those chosen by the society, such as judges. Punishment is given to the individual with hope that he will realize that what he did was wrong.
The novel “The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne has a major theme of sin and punishment. Hester Prynne is condemned an adulteress who has to wear a scarlet “A”, for adulterer, on her chest at all times as her form of punishment. She had a daughter with the minister of the town, Arthur Dimmesdale, but no one knows this. Hester also married to …show more content…
She matures as she has to take on the role of being a mother and being singled out from her community. With facing a lot of shame and disgust, she gets stronger by accepting her punishment, and also becomes more compassionate. She tries to help the less fortunate in her community by bringing them food and clothing to help with their basic needs, even though they insult her. Hester goes from being just a normal woman in a town to having to deal with hate all the time, but she accepts this and comes out a stronger and better woman. Hester’s sin is passed down to Pearl, making her also an outcast in the community; she is judged before even having a chance to show who she is. By being isolated from others, she has no friends to play with and usually just plays with herself or some imaginary friends. Pearl is described as abnormal, especially with the elflike nature that is used. For Arthur, his sin takes a huge emotional and physical toll on him. He kept his sin and guilt hidden from the public, as he is a minister and has to keep that level of respect. Being a minister and committing adultery, he feels that he has majorly disrespected God. He tries to put all of his focus into his work, writing numerous sermons. The public sees that he is sick and think it is because he is working too much, but he’s actually getting weaker due to his sin. He holds his hand on his heart frequently, which could symbolize his sin and his suffering. When Arthur dies at …show more content…
If someone was severely physically hurt or even dead, then I think that incarceration or the death penalty is the better option. This way, the punishment is more controlled and set in stone. Shaming is an effective way when no one else was harmed, just a wrongful act was committed. This way, an individual isn’t jailed for an act like adultery while someone else is also jailed but for murdering a person. However, public shaming is an uncontrolled form of punishment. No one can control how long the public will remember the individual and his/her punishment. But, I feel that this is a slightly better option than being jailed or executed in certain situations where no one was harmed physically. If someone is drunk driving and is pulled over, they should go through some sort of public shame. On the other hand, if someone is drunk driving and kills someone because of it, then they should be
The novel “The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne has a major theme of sin and punishment. Hester Prynne is condemned an adulteress who has to wear a scarlet “A”, for adulterer, on her chest at all times as her form of punishment. She had a daughter with the minister of the town, Arthur Dimmesdale, but no one knows this. Hester also married to …show more content…
She matures as she has to take on the role of being a mother and being singled out from her community. With facing a lot of shame and disgust, she gets stronger by accepting her punishment, and also becomes more compassionate. She tries to help the less fortunate in her community by bringing them food and clothing to help with their basic needs, even though they insult her. Hester goes from being just a normal woman in a town to having to deal with hate all the time, but she accepts this and comes out a stronger and better woman. Hester’s sin is passed down to Pearl, making her also an outcast in the community; she is judged before even having a chance to show who she is. By being isolated from others, she has no friends to play with and usually just plays with herself or some imaginary friends. Pearl is described as abnormal, especially with the elflike nature that is used. For Arthur, his sin takes a huge emotional and physical toll on him. He kept his sin and guilt hidden from the public, as he is a minister and has to keep that level of respect. Being a minister and committing adultery, he feels that he has majorly disrespected God. He tries to put all of his focus into his work, writing numerous sermons. The public sees that he is sick and think it is because he is working too much, but he’s actually getting weaker due to his sin. He holds his hand on his heart frequently, which could symbolize his sin and his suffering. When Arthur dies at …show more content…
If someone was severely physically hurt or even dead, then I think that incarceration or the death penalty is the better option. This way, the punishment is more controlled and set in stone. Shaming is an effective way when no one else was harmed, just a wrongful act was committed. This way, an individual isn’t jailed for an act like adultery while someone else is also jailed but for murdering a person. However, public shaming is an uncontrolled form of punishment. No one can control how long the public will remember the individual and his/her punishment. But, I feel that this is a slightly better option than being jailed or executed in certain situations where no one was harmed physically. If someone is drunk driving and is pulled over, they should go through some sort of public shame. On the other hand, if someone is drunk driving and kills someone because of it, then they should be