Imagine if everyone you knew wore a mask, it would be noticeable right? Not so much here. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the setting was set in a Puritan community where everyone has sinned at least once. However, a woman named Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery and it was discovered. Not only that, but all three of the main characters were associated with the outcome of this sin and many other ones. The discrepancy between outward appearance was clearly exhibited through the many wrongdoings of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
Hester Prynne, seen as a strong woman without any fears, was actually the complete opposite. She was too afraid to tell her own child the truth about multiple things, such as, who her father was, or what the ‘A’ truly means. This shows that she was actually a fearful, timid person. The Scarlet A, given to anyone who committed the sin of adultery, was given to Hester when she gave into the enticement of the sin. Seven years later Hester and Arthur met in the woods , yet again, and planned to run away from the …show more content…
There was no doubt that he was devoted to God, passionate in his religion, and effective in the pulpit. He also had the the most amount of conflict in the novel, and his agonized suffering was the direct result of his inability to disclose his sin until the very end, just before he died. What is humorous is that he would preach a good sermon about the consequences of sin, but he definitely couldn’t deal with them himself. Hester may not recognize it, but Chillingworth does. He tells her, "his spirit lacked the strength that could have borne up, as thine has been, beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter". In other words, Arthur can preach a good sermon about the consequences of sin, but he definitely couldn’t deal with them himself, and this is what led him to his
Hester Prynne, seen as a strong woman without any fears, was actually the complete opposite. She was too afraid to tell her own child the truth about multiple things, such as, who her father was, or what the ‘A’ truly means. This shows that she was actually a fearful, timid person. The Scarlet A, given to anyone who committed the sin of adultery, was given to Hester when she gave into the enticement of the sin. Seven years later Hester and Arthur met in the woods , yet again, and planned to run away from the …show more content…
There was no doubt that he was devoted to God, passionate in his religion, and effective in the pulpit. He also had the the most amount of conflict in the novel, and his agonized suffering was the direct result of his inability to disclose his sin until the very end, just before he died. What is humorous is that he would preach a good sermon about the consequences of sin, but he definitely couldn’t deal with them himself. Hester may not recognize it, but Chillingworth does. He tells her, "his spirit lacked the strength that could have borne up, as thine has been, beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter". In other words, Arthur can preach a good sermon about the consequences of sin, but he definitely couldn’t deal with them himself, and this is what led him to his