Sin And Its Consequences In Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Sin and its Consequences in the ScArlet Letter Nathanial Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” is a novel with numerous themes, spanning from revenge to femininity to the supernatural. One of the most prominent themes, is the theme of sin and its consequences on peoples mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of their lives. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth epitomize the theme of sin with each of their unique situations of sin and in how they deal with them. This paper will focus on the sins and consequences (both good and bad) of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth and even of the people in the Puritan society. The plot of “The Scarlet Letter” revolves around Hester Prynne’s and Arthur …show more content…
One consequence was that it made her not be able to be with the one she truly loved (Dimmesdale). Another was that for most of her life she was treated as an outcast and remembered as a sinner as well as used as an example of what not to be. In spite of all the negative consequences of Hester’s sin, she was able to gain some positive repercussions. For one she had an extremely intuitive and lively daughter Pearl (meaning of great value/price) who served as a light to her day. Finally, although Hester had many forces going against her, she was able to experience personal growth that made her stronger. A lady named Ella Wheeler Wilcox once stated “To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men”. This quote fits perfectly with Arthur Dimmesdale. In “The Scarlet Letter” Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, making him the other adulterer, but unlike Hester who confessed her sins, Dimmesdale decided to keep his sins secret. As a clergyman, Dimmesdale is afraid and ashamed to name himself the other adulterer and because of this suffers grave consequences to his well-being both physically and mentally as well as emotionally and