Guilt in the Scarlet Letter
Guilt and redemption in Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone is a central topic of the novel. The whole story is based on the life of a married woman after committing adultery and describes the effects of this sin. There are two persons who are exposed to this sin and guilt: Hester, a married woman and Reverend Dimmesdale. If Hester was courage enough to struggle this problem and face all hardships and misfortunes with dignity after confessing, then the fear of exposal and shame of the committed sin turned into a personal catastrophe for Dimmesdale. As a result, failing to struggle with the shame and guilt reverend Dimmssdale died. The guilt for Hester as a result turned into a shameful page of her life: she had to wear scarlet letter on her closing, which marked her as "sinner" and she had to raise her illegitimate daughter Pearl, who was embodiment of this sin. After society found out her sin, Hester was cruelly punished for being adulterer. Because novel takes place in Puritan New England the issues of morality were very strict and the punishment was very cruel. The most terrible thing in Hester's sin was that she committed adultery with town's minister; reverend Dimmesdale and she had to keep silence about it. After spend
Making a conclusion, it's important to note how different was the burden of guilt for Hester and Dimmesdale. She continued wearing letter "A": "The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. The scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it"(72). Unlike Hester, reverend Arthur Dimmesdale didn't confess in his sin and kept this secret until his death. Nevertheless, despite all hardships and humiliation she had to stand in her own city, Hester was able to accept it and continue her life. Nathaniel Hawthorne wanted to show that it's much easier to be honest to oneself, surrounding and honest to god, rather than keep the sin and guilt inside and suffer from tortures that erode body and mind. Dimmesdale tried to confess several time sin his sins, but it was regarded as demonstration of his modesty and personal purity. For Puritans this letter stood as "a living sermon against sin" (Hawthorne 69), but for Hester it was a life reminder of her guilt: "the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. " (157) Hester was a skillful seamstress; devoted nurse and loving mother as she spent all of her free time to up bring her daughter. Dimmesdale hid adultery and didn't claim that Pearl was his daughter, being afraid of public revenge. The most important achievement of Hester is that she was able to accept her sin and didn't allow it ruin her entire life and her personality. It was very difficult for him to confess, as he was a town's minister and "consciousness of town" for his congregation. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband was later assigned to assist ill reverend and he did his best in order to revenge reverend.
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Acceptance Essays
