“Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role in a happy life; they’re big, flashing signs that something needs to change.” This articulate statement was once said by the not so popular but very intellectual, Gretchen Rubin. Most people in the world today believe that guilt is either a negative or unnecessary emotion because they believe it leads to misery, depression, and self-incrimination.Believe it or not, guilt is one of the most useful of our emotions as successfully argued in the article, “Guilt: Or Why It’s Good To Feel Bad,” written by Jane Brody. These arguments are then strengthened by the main characters: Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Guilt is positive emotion
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The Scarlet Letter strengthens the fact that guilt is a “positive force” because it is essential for “social order” by helping people feel connected when both Chillingworth and the townspeople attempt to make up for their wrongdoings. Dr. Helen Block Lewis describes guilt as “the [cement] that binds us together and keeps us human… [Then she states that i]f it occurs to you that you’ve done something to injure someone else, guilt compels you to do something to fix it, to repair the bond”(Brody 3). Roger Chillingworth, husband of Hester, prioritizes seeking revenge on Dimmesdale after he finds out that Dimmesdale had an affair with his wife. When Dimmesdale died, Chillingworth felt a sense of guilt because his seeking of revenge led to Dimmesdale’s demise. In order to repair this bond that he broke with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth “bequeathed a very considerable amount of property… to little Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne”(Hawthorne 232). Chillingworth attempted to make up for his sinning and end his life on a good note and this was successfully accomplished with the help of guilt. In the earlier chapters of the story, society tries to repair its bond with Hester after realizing that the punishment that they gave her for adulterous sin was too severe. At one point, Chillingworth tells Hester that the town fathers are “debating whether or no[t], with safety to the common weal, [her] scarlet letter might be taken off [her] bosom”(Hawthorne 152). Hester’s punishment for her adulterous sin was to have a scarlet letter A plastered on all her clothes so that everyone would remember as a disgrace in society. After Hester’s plentiful years of suffering, the town fathers who assigned then punishment, felt guilty because the punishment was too severe and needed to be be uplifted. From this, you can see that
The Scarlet Letter strengthens the fact that guilt is a “positive force” because it is essential for “social order” by helping people feel connected when both Chillingworth and the townspeople attempt to make up for their wrongdoings. Dr. Helen Block Lewis describes guilt as “the [cement] that binds us together and keeps us human… [Then she states that i]f it occurs to you that you’ve done something to injure someone else, guilt compels you to do something to fix it, to repair the bond”(Brody 3). Roger Chillingworth, husband of Hester, prioritizes seeking revenge on Dimmesdale after he finds out that Dimmesdale had an affair with his wife. When Dimmesdale died, Chillingworth felt a sense of guilt because his seeking of revenge led to Dimmesdale’s demise. In order to repair this bond that he broke with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth “bequeathed a very considerable amount of property… to little Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne”(Hawthorne 232). Chillingworth attempted to make up for his sinning and end his life on a good note and this was successfully accomplished with the help of guilt. In the earlier chapters of the story, society tries to repair its bond with Hester after realizing that the punishment that they gave her for adulterous sin was too severe. At one point, Chillingworth tells Hester that the town fathers are “debating whether or no[t], with safety to the common weal, [her] scarlet letter might be taken off [her] bosom”(Hawthorne 152). Hester’s punishment for her adulterous sin was to have a scarlet letter A plastered on all her clothes so that everyone would remember as a disgrace in society. After Hester’s plentiful years of suffering, the town fathers who assigned then punishment, felt guilty because the punishment was too severe and needed to be be uplifted. From this, you can see that