The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates that the presence of guilt throughout the story. This is apparent through all the main characters of the novel. Although the novel has several imperfect people as the main characters, including Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, the worst sinner is Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth commits the greater sin because of his failure to forgive; he has a constant need for revenge; he receives extreme pleasure in torturing Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, however, has committed sins of almost the same magnitude as they did.

While Hester tries to protect Dimmesdale by not giving the name of Pearl's father, she actually places him on a long road of suffering, self torture and disappointment. She does this by letting him keep the sin he committed in secret while he watches her being publicly punished. Chillingworth observes Dimmesdale's desire to confess, as well as his lack of power or guts to do so. Dimmesdale expresses not confessing; all the while Chillingworth is torturing with constant reminders of how much of a hypocrite he is. Hester never voluntarily confesses to committing adultery, and never feels any remorse for it. Her public punishment comes not as a result of her having any crime, but rather her apparent pregnancy. She stays in the town to be close to Dimmesdale, this can be viewed with the quote, "There dwelt...the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union..." (Page 84). She also stays in town to convince others, as well as herself, that she is actually regretful for her sin even though she knows in her heart she is not. She does this to appease her guilt. This can also be viewed in a similar quote, "Here...had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul and work out another purity than that which she had lost..." (Page 84). When Dimmesdale's torture begins to be too much, she convinces him to run away again with her, expressing her complete lack of remorse or conviction in the act of adultery. Though she suffers for seven long years, she never actually regrets, but falls into adultery once again. She is ignoring the fact that she committed a crime at all, specifically one of this degree, not only physically but in her heart as well. By the end of the book, a reader can observe that she never regrets, but seperates herself from society. In contrast, Dimmesdale eventually realizes that confession is necessary to repentance, in addition to denying himself any adulteress thoughts or acts.

Many people may label Dimmesdale the purest of the sinners. Adultery, is one of the greatest sins a man can commit. Dimmesdale tries to purge himself of this evil sin by neglecting himself and self-denial. However, he shies away from public confession, rationalizing the good he can instill in other men and women with his sermons. We find this illogical reasoning on page He endures Chillingworth's revenge and hatred while trying to preach what he doesn't practice. At his weakest point, Hester tempts him to cave in to the sin and do it all over again. Out of desperation to flee from the torture, he transforms into exactly what Dimmesdale is looking for. Walking back into town he has such evil impulses that he is brought to realize the sin which he was about to commit. This motivates his amazing election speech, which once again brings him to the scaffold where he is finally able to find the courage to publicly confess and tell his tormentor, "Ha, tempter! Methinks thou art too late...Thy power is not what it was! With Gods help, I shall escape thee now!" (page 238). His tortured body gives in and his free spirit ascends to heaven, finally free of his tormentors. Then later he exclaims, “Thou hast escaped me!” he repeated more than once. “Thou hast escaped me!” “May God forgive thee!' said the minister. 'Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!” (Page 238) This says that Dimmesdale