The Salem witch trials were some of the most famous events in US history. To this day, people are fascinated by how corrupted this Puritan village became. Severely dedicated, the Puritans followed a strict moral code. However, sin and evil were basic components of their community. Possibly, this proved the Puritan theory that wickedness is not taught, but a fundamental part of human nature. Or it proved Hawthorne's theory that sin occured because of the severe laws of the Puritans. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, he exposes flaws in Puritan society by utilizing minor, but symbolic characters.
             Govenor Bellingham serves as representation of one of the three main elements of Puritanism: State. Hawthorne portrays Bellingham as a wealthy, elderly gentleman, who resembles a traditional British aristocrat. As the head government official of Boston, Massachusetts, Bellingham is described as "not an ill fitted representative of a community, which owed its origin, not to the impulses of youth, but to the stern and tempered energies of manhood" (70). Hawthorne depicts Governor Bellingham as a man who adheres to the rules set before him, but he can easily be influenced by Dimmesdale and other town fathers. While Bellingham involves himself in, and stays well informed about the happenings and mishappenings of the town, he remains completely blind to the misbehaviors in his own house. His sister, Mistress Hibbins, is a witch. Hawthorne stresses Bellingham's blindness to the occurrences in his own home to illustrate that the Puritan government only judged sinners impartially if there were no personal connections to them.
             Hawthorne's character, Reverend Wilson, poses as the symbol for the harsh Puritan Church. Boston's oldest clergyman, Reverend Wilson is scholarly, and grandfatherly. He is constantly pouring over his books, and his genial personality usually attracts children. Hawthorne describes
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