The Puritan Society's Effect On The individual In Nathaniel Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter
             Nathaniel Hawthorn's novel, " The Scarlet Letter" is set in the 17th century New
             England town of Boston, a town led by severe Puritan judges. " It is a moralistic and
             gloomy place where the citizens dress drab colors and lack any liveliness. "
             They are all Puritans who consider their belief a very impartial and strong one, which
             can judge people justly. These Bostonians practice this 'right' to judge other sinners,
             however they themselves are making mistakes. They all live their own quiet life with a
             sinful heart and punish enthusiastically everyone who is not clever enough to hide his
             own error. In such a society individualism is forbidden and people's life is controlled
             by state and church. Not only their life is labeled but their emotions and relationships
             as well. In these circumstances the individual becomes more fallible and more
             In order to understand the alarming contradictions of the Puritan society that are
             emphasized in Hawthorn's novel we have to analyze a little their basic beliefs. A
             fundamental thing is 'sin' and the first event when people committed sin. The Bible
             begins with the story of Adam and Eve, who were expelled from the Garden of Eden
             for not listening to God and then lying to Him. This happening permeates all the
             Puritan ideology. But it deals only with the act of sin and not with " the knowledge of
             what it means to be human." Puritans never forgive, however they
             believe in a forgiving God. Sinners don't forgive to other sinners, as they didn't
             pardon Hester, he adulteress. It is more interesting that the townspeople find her
             punishment too indulgent. No one has the courage to admit that they- especially the
             town's women -envy...