Theme Of Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, ideas of love, guilt, sin, reputation, and alienation are shown throughout the story. One theme that is brought to my attention constantly is guilt. In The Scarlet Letter, guilt is destruction to the main characters of the story. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, are consistently reminded of the sins they committed and the fact that their past mistakes can only be relieved if they admit to their past. In my interpretation for “Guilt is destruction,” guilt is spelled out in three-dimensional letters. The letters are painted a metallic black to help bring out the gloom that is shown throughout the book. The letters are also old and distraught to help point out that they are nearly about to break, due to the pain and suffering they have …show more content…
Reverend Dimmesdale then walks around everyday wanted to claim Pearl, but cannot because Hester and himself will then be hung for the sin of adultery. The scarlet letter is in front of the word “guilt.” Large, sparkly, and flourish with gold, the scarlet letter stands out to represent the shame and guilt that Hester is continually reminded of. Not only was she to stand on the scaffolding for three hours a day for quite some time as punishment, she has a child that walks by her side, with a “Prince from the Air.” As Pearl walks around claiming she doesn’t know whom her father is, she explains to the people that her mother simply picked her from the rose bush by the prison door. When Pearl tells the people that she was plucked from a rosebush, this places a great amount of guilt on Hester due to that fact that the townspeople don’t know the father of her child. The scaffolding is placed on the platform because Hester stood on top of it with Pearl to pay her punishment. During these times, the people would shout unkind words, and Hester had to stand and take all of