A theme is a central idea or abstract concept that is made concrete through representation in person, action, and image. There can be more than one theme in a story. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth all demonstrate Hawthorne's theme of being true to oneself or facing dire consequences.
             Hester Prynne demonstrates the theme of being true to oneself in The Scarlet Letter in the very beginning in Chapter 2 when the people of the town behold her upon the scaffold for the first time. "On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A...[the letter's decoration was] greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony"(p.44). Although Hester is forced to wear a badge of shame for her sin she accepts her punishment to wear the letter but she sews it intricately because she is a fine seamstress and the decoration shows that the letter is most certainly hers and that she does in fact accept this. This very act of slight rebellion is a foreshadowing of Hester's stubbornness to serve her penitence for she will again in a later chapter of the novel refuse to take of the letter because she feels it is part of her and that she must be true to herself in paying for her sin.
             In contradiction to Hester's forthcoming manner about her sin, Arthur Dimmesdale is the complete opposite. "His form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich and sweet, had a certain melancholy prophecy decay in it..."(p.103). Arthur was Hester's partner in sin but his identity as her adulterer accomplice is kept concealed partly because Hester refuses to give his name and partly because he himself is too cowardly to come forth and admit his sin. Unfortunately for him his physical and emotional state begin to deteriorate in result of his guilt. Many examples in t...