The Scarlet Letter

Secrets Destroy Lives

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the characters keep secrets that lead to destruction. Hester, who commits adultery and becomes pregnant, does not reveal who the father of her daughter, Pearl, is . She also does not tell anyone that the new town doctor, Roger Chillingworth, is her husband. Reverend Dimmsdale, one of the most spiritual men in Boston, also keeps a secret by not telling anyone he is Pearl’s father. Although both characters mean well, they cause much agony and misery in their lives by keeping secrets.

Hester Prynne is a gorgeous young woman whose life is turned upside down when she commits adultery and becomes pregnant. After she has the baby, she is forced upon the scaffold and questioned about who the father is. Hester, being the noble woman she is, refuses to tell. She is punished for this by having to “… stand only a space of three hours on the platform of pillory, and then and thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom”(57). Hester hurts herself and Dimmsdale by not confessing. She means well by keeping the secret because she does not want Dimmsdale’s reputation ruined, but had she confessed, her punishment might

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not have been so harsh.

Hester keeps another big secret when the new doctor, Roger Chillingworth, comes to town, and she does not tell anyone he is her husband. This is such a bad thing because he becomes Dimmsdale’s doctor. Chillingworth is only in Boston to seek revenge. When he finds out that Dimmsdale is Pearl’s father, he becomes very evil. Instead of giving Dimmsdale medicines to make him feel better, he does the opposite. If Hester would have told everyone that Chillingworth is her husband, they would have never let him be Dimmsdale’s doctor. Hester knows this is not the right thing to do , but she is scared of Chillingworth because he tells her not to reveal his identity. Chillingworth warns her that “ shouldst thou fail [him] in this, beware!”(69).