Free College Essays - The Results of Sin in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Scarlet Letter -  Ã‚  Inevitable Results of Sin There are many ways to interpret literature.   Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered a very influential writer of the American Transcendentalist era; his writing deals a lot with the Puritan times, including his famous novel, The Scarlet Letter.   The Scarlet Letter deals with the adulterous sin of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the vengeance of Roger Chillingsworth, and the townspeople's attitude towards Hester and her daughter Pearl.   Sin can be categorized many ways, but most importantly, one should remember that bad things always develop from sin.   The fact that Hester and the minister sinned led to the townspeople looking down on Hester and Pearl, while Reverend Dimmesdale concealed his crime of passion making Hester's scarlet letter 'A' the central symbol of the novel. As the people of Boston scrutinized Hester and Pearl, their devotion to the Lord's word soon turned to hatred.   "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead," were the thrashful words of an autumnal matron in a throng of people.   Under the appellation of Roger Chillingsworth, Hester's former husband constantly battered her.   These actions filled him full of vengeance soon making him into a fiend.   From the people treating Hester bad, and the unruly acts of Roger Chillingsworth, it is clearly shown that one sin can lead to many others. Another example of sin erupting into more evils is Reverend Dimmesdale's camouflage act with his duality in the adulterous parody.   Chillingsworth treated the minister even more uncivilized than he treated Hester; this earned him the title of the leech.   As a physician, he was well respected, but his fiendish acts of hatred towards the minister turned him into a black devil.   Seven years after Hester served her persecution on the scaffold with young Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale served his punishment.   Not only did the sin of Reverend Dimmesdale make him lose all consciousness, when he confessed his crime, he lost his life to the cause.   Through trying to avoid his sin, the reverend made