The Effects of Secret Sin in the Writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter of Nathaniel Hawthorne explicates in detail four distinctive levels of sin . They include the sin of adultery , the sin of vengeance (for it was believed that only god could pay vengeance on the deserving , the sin of hypocrisy and above all , the communal sin of humankind who treated those who committed some mistakes knowingly or unknowingly as outcastes

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale have committed adultery before the book begins . Being Puritans by nature , to each , his or her conscience is important . Hence each suffers because of his or

her conscience . Yet there is a basic difference in the two persons . Whereas Dimmesdale suffers in secret and becomes weak , Hester suffers publicly and she is an activist . Dimmesdale is broken by his awareness of sin Hester stands firm

The difference between Hester 's awareness of her sin and Dimmesdale 's awareness of his sin is due to the fact that though , nominally , Hester is a woman , she is firm and courageous , while , nominally , though Dimmesdale is a man , he is timid and weak-willed . Being hypocritical before his congregation aggravated his sense of crime . Perhaps Dimmesdale 's mortified awareness of sin is either due to his position as a religious minister or due to his intellectual superiority over Hester Hester , on the other hand , is a common woman - proud , dignified sensitive , but bold . Then , her public censure at the beginning of the book has perhaps lessened her strong and morbid feeling of guilt that a secret sinner like Dimmesdale might have . Also , her public acceptance of sin is not without benefits - people permit her to move about much more freely than they would an ordinary Puritan woman , for instance . Pearl 's presence also saves her from drastic course of rebellion against her society . She does suffer from people 's stares and exposure that the scarlet letter and pearl enforce upon her , as also from the Puritan children 's jeers . Yet , she manages to find a way around her suffering and to convert it into a kind of triumph by her good deeds and humility Work is her salvation and she achieves a kind of peace out of her suffering

She transforms her punishment into a virtue . She becomes the ambassador of mercy . The letter `A ' on her bosom in the beginning meant Adulteress . Later it meant Able ' and much later , Angel . Thus we see Hester , the sinner , slowly changing into a better person . The scarlet letter , with its many meanings , symbolizes these changes

Dimmesdale , on the other hand , we constantly find as shut up in his rooms or surrounded by his congregation , so that his is a passive , as opposed to Hester 's active life . He lacerates and tortures himself because he hates himself for his secret sin . He makes half hearted attempts to confess his sin (chapters XI and XII , but without much success . No doubt , his suffering brings him his tongue-of-flame which makes a direct appeal to the hearts of other sinners at the time of...