Theme Of Guilt In The Scarlet Letter

Scarlet Letter

In the Novel The Scarlet Letter by, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in the 1800’s, takes place in the 1600’s during puritan times. Puritanism is the believe that everyone is naturally born evil. Hawthorne teaches a lot of lessons threw symbolism. Symbolism is when the author makes a person or object have a deeper meaning. In his novel“The Scarlet Letter the symbolic significance of the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale and Pearl to contribute to the theme of guilt.

First, Hawthorne uses the symbol of the Scarlet Letter to contribute to his theme of guilt. He makes the Scarlet Letter stand for secret sin like Hester’s. Her scarlet letter stands for her sin of adultery. She is led by Beadle and publicly shamed for her sin. Beadle says,”come along, madam Hester show your Scarlet Letter in the marketplace” (Hawthorne 52). Once Hester is shamed, she becomes rebellious and starts to stand up for herself. Instead of feeling guilty about her sin she makes amends of her guilt instead of letting it eat her alive. Now, Her baby is born and she is dressed like The scarlet letter on Hester’s chest and shows everyone that she owns up to her wrong doings. Hawthorne writes,”...the outward guise of purity was a lie, and that if truth were everywhere to be shown, a Scarlet Letter would blaze forth on many a bosom other than Hester Prynne 's”(Hawthorn 80)? Now when other people look at Hester’s Letter they feel guilty themselves because they have also sinned, but have not been shamed in