Sins of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in

The Sins of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in The Scarlet garnerNathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the patrol wagon and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon. Hester Prynnes sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hesters punishment was to put out a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for the rest of her bearing in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hesters sin, he considers it less serious than those of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hesters sin was a sin of passion. This sin was openly adjudge as she wore the A on her chest. Hester did not commit the greatest sin of the novel. She did not deliberately mean to commit her s in or mean to hurt others. Hesters sin is that her passions and love were of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code. This is shown when she says to Dimmesdale, What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so We said so to each other Hester fully acknowledged her guilt and displayed it with pride to the world. This was obvious by the way she displayed the scarlet letter. It was elaborately designed as if to show Hester was proud. Hester is indeed a sinner, adultery is no well-to-do matter, even today. On the other hand, her sin has brought her not evil, but good. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the broken-hearted, her unquestionable presence in times of trouble are all told direct results of her quest for repe... ...Works Cited and ConsultedArvin, Newton. Critical Extracts. Major Literary Characters. New York, 1990. 12-14. Bruckner, Sally. The Scarlet Letter Critical Evaluation. Masterplots. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasadena Salem, 1996. 5847-5851. Dolan , Neal. Thematic and Structural Analysis. The Scarlet Letter Blooms Notes. Philadelphia Chelsea, 1996. 12-21. Durst Johnson, Claudia. Understanding The Scarlet Letter. Westport, Ct Greenwood, 1995. McFarland Pennell, Melissa. Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Westport Greenwood, 1999. Morey, Eileen, ed. Readings on The Scarlet Letter. San Diego Greenhaven, 1998. Sewall, Richard B. The Scarlet Letter Criticism. Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit Gale, 2001. 319-27. Wagenknecht, Edward. Characters in The Scarlet Letter. Readings. San Diego, 1998. 58-72.