Scarlet Letter Literary Analysis-Sin
Invisible to the naked eye is something sinister that every human being has, it is none other than the ominous creation of wrongdoings, sin. Sin is the one true thing that is feared by all. It has the power to consume an entire person, even those who are believed to be pure in heart. In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sin is traced to the characters and the choices they have made, creating symbols intentionally.
An infamous women by the name Hester Prynne committed the outrageous crime of adultery. For the perpetrated offense she must wear a symbol of shame, the scarlet letter. Another bears the same sin but on the inside hiding it from the world, Hester’s new lover, the minister of the town
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The most important symbol of the story is none other than the scarlet letter. The letter on Hester’s chest stands for much more than adultery, it becomes a symbol of aspiration. The symbol defines Hester, guiding her magnificent change and influencing her to become the outstanding figure she ends up becoming. On the night Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl stood on the town scaffold a meteor appeared with a scarlet letter resembling the one upon Hester’s chest. This meteor represents the sins that have yet to be revealed by Dimmesdale. The meteor was the last thing that pushed Dimmesdale to confess to the public his darkest secret. By cleary being reminded of his hidden sins, he realizes the effect they have on his beloved Hester and Pearl. This guides Dimmesdale to become a completely different person, acting as if a huge weight has been lifted of his shoulders since he now understands what he must do. Chillingworth is himself a symbol within the story, standing for pure evil. As a malicious and crooked old man, he brings the darkness with him wherever he treads. In the story Pearls even refers to Chillingworth as the black man meaning the devil "Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old black man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!" (Hawthorne 126). He is the epitome of evil, even the children notice his nefarious aura. He is the devil's adversary, and will stop at nothing to administer his
Chris Ocampo Period 4A October 18,2015 Character Analysis/symbolism/Theme Identification-Analysis Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolic commentary and conventional themes in The Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, and The Birthmark, characterizes sin and judgment as deformations within us all. Within each of Hawthorne’s’ works sin reflects internal and exposed sins, as well in people’s flaws. However, there deformations expand further than the objects that they wear. All of the major symbols and themes in Hawthorns selected works embody Alienation. Hester Prynne, Aylmer, and Mr. Hooper are linked to the ambiguity of Puritan morals.
It is as intertwined as yin and yang. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale need each other almost. Chillingworth makes him or the alleged father of Pearl his life 's ambition. He goes as far as to change his name and pose as a friendly doctor.
A memorable story, The Scarlet Letter recounts Hester’s tragedy with powerful symbols
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel about how being a sinner led to a life of misery during the Puritan era. Hester Prynne, the sinner, commits adultery with a man, Arthur Dimmesdale, who is not her husband. She gives birth to a child named Pearl and is branded with a scarlet letter “A”. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, disguises as a physician in order to unravel the truth behind the crime that his wife committed and to get revenge on the man who slept with his wife. Although Chillingworth appears as a calm man who only craved knowledge, he eventually turns into a malicious devil who is blind with getting revenge.
In the classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he utilizes youth, fraud, and symbolism to immerse the reader into his story. His more direct use of youth and symbolism reveal that a person, no matter who they may seem to be from the outside, can be the greatest sinner of all. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, fraud is quickly revealed through the innocence of youth.
A Sin of Fatal Intent Proverbs 28:13 states, " He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy." Deceitful actions, unholy intentions, hatred, guilt, revenge, and in a word, sin; these are all primary aspects of The Scarlet Letter, a classic novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Yet, the most unmistakable characteristic, which penetratingly echoes through the chapters of The Scarlet Letter and through the mind of the reader, is the calamity which comes with sin and has plagued humanity almost since the beginning of time. Sin is a fact of human nature, and The Scarlet Letter displayed sin not only in depth and in its worst state, but also its deadly effects.
Chillingworth finds out that Dimmesdale is the secret lover of Hester. He then transforms in to an evil character with the goal of making Hester and Dimmesdale’s lives miserable. In the novel, Chillingworth and Hester discuss about who had mistreated who. Chillingworth says “I shall contrive aught against his life” (Hawthorne 70), his life meaning Dimmesdale’s. This refutes Khans theory because Chillingworth wanted Dimmesdale’s to live long, so he could make Dimmesdale suffer through
The Consequences of Sin Sin is defined as “an offense against religious or moral law”. The idea of sin and being ostracized for your sins was extremely relevant during the Puritan period when religion was the greatest component of daily life. The Puritans believed that they had entered a covenant with God and therefore any sin, such as crime and adultery were considered a breach of their covenant with God. This view led to the church punishing people who committed sin in order for God not to punish the church as a whole. The consequences and effects of sin is shown through the character development in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.
Sin is a reoccurring and imperative theme in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin to weave the characters and the plot together. It is evident that Hester’s adulterous sin produces the plot in the remainder of the novel. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne displays the mental and physical affects of sin on individuals.
Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.
Hawthorne demonstrates the effects of sin on the lives and reputations of Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Chillingworth. Although many might argue, especially given the Puritan setting of the novel, that public confrontation of sin tarnishes a person’s reputation, Hawthorne’s recurring motif of sin serves to make a broader point about the dangers of repressing sin. The Scarlet Letter suggests that the acknowledgement of sin as an innate aspect of humanity ultimately fosters personal growth. Mentions of sin recur frequently throughout Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the Puritan society of the 17th century in the novel The Scarlet Letter. He creates a story about a woman named Hester who is bound by sin to a scarlet letter “A”, for adultery. He uses symbolism to contribute to the overall theme of sin. Some symbols used include: the scarlet letter itself, a meteor, and the black blossom.
His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin through Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth
We are born sinners, we can not be save only based on how we act but depend on do we acknowledge our sins. In the novel Scarlet letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne compare and contract the hidden sin and the revealed sin but use the end of Dimmesdale and Hester to claim the consequence of hide sins. The
The two-century-old novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about two lovers who commit a horrible sin. Only one is punished for the sin, though. The woman’s [Hester Prynne] husband—believed to be dead—comes back to town to find her being gawked at by her community. He tells her not to say anything about his identity, and instead goes to find her silent lover. Said lover is too scared to confess his part in the sin, and instead lets the guilt eat him from the inside out.