Theme Of Conformity In The Scarlet Letter

The great victim of togetherness is the one who feels like he does not belong. In Puritanical society, public humiliation and confession are staples of the group. This is a result of the theme of conformity and a lack of self responsibility. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, The society demonstrates the theme of conformity by adopting turn on forgiving attitude toward others, by alienating sinners, and by discouraging individualism. The townspeople are not quick to forgive. They do not forgive people, such as Hester, even as they demand public confession. Hester mentions in the book that all of the Puritans have secret sins, and she says that she has a "sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts." She explains …show more content…
Hester was alienated for her sin; Hester’s innocent baby Pearl was also alienated because she came from sin. Society acts as one and casts out sinners, but if every Puritan took personal and moral responsibility for himself or herself, all would not be found worthy to stay because all of them have hidden sins. This means that the one mindedness is hypocritical because it allows them not to forgive. This is contrary to Jesus's teachings in the Bible. Just as Jesus forgave the woman at the well in the new testament , the puritans are also to forgive one another. “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it... She stood apart from mortal interests, yet close beside them, like a ghost that revisits the familiar fireside, and can no longer make itself seen or felt.” stated Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. Hester herself does not believe that she thrives in the society because she committed sin. She believes that she will never be normal because society has not forgiven her by branding her. Therefore, she lives in solitude with only little Pearl. Her cottage by the sea represents this isolation and alienation because it is the farthest dwelling away from the main part of the town. The townspeople use her as an example to their children, and they are not social with her when she goes into town. In this way, she is cut off from the …show more content…
All of these points drive the townspeople together in thought, which takes away from the experience of life. The townspeople’s lack of forgiveness is a clear theological issue. They are not self responsible and very group oriented. The townspeople also block off public sinners in a menacing way. This declaration of inflicted isolation is caused by a shared thought process of the citizens of the town. Intern, every man is forced to conform, or he or she will be alienated. The townspeople lack individualism. The lack is evident in thought process and clothing. The only person who has some individualism is Hester because she was forced to obtain it to feel Pearl and care for her. The others in the society are trapped inside the lines of a coloring book. Conformity is the greatest flaw in the Puritanical society. Conformity brings down society, and from the ashes of the Puritanical society, comes societies, such as America, that were born of individualistic efforts that sprung forward society. Will America forget its roots, and begin to conform to the