The Scarlet Letter: Tales Of Sin And Confession :: essays research papers fc

The Scarlet garner Tales of Sin and ConfessionThe happiness of the wicked passes away like a torrent This quote from Jean Baptiste Racin summarizes The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in one sentence. The novels main focus is on iii main characters and how the unrighteousnesss they commit affect their lives in the strict puritan townspeople of Boston around the year 1642. Hawthorne was very knowledgeable of his Puritan personal credit line and shows it by incorporating some important thoughts and traditions into this story about sin and confession. end-to-end the novel, the physical, social, mental and emotional changes that result from sin in the lives of the characters are never positive and the outcome of their spiritual battles are not always total but the author makes it perfectly clear to us that concealing sin is not wise.Hawthorne begins the first chapter of the novel with Hesters penalty. She had committed adultery, a discourtesy that the Puritans often punish ed by death. She was sentenced to stand on the scaffold, a emblem of shame, for three hours in front of the whole town and to wear a scarlet letter A (meaning Adultery) for the rest of her life. She stayed loyal to her new attendant and refused to expose his identity. Although she is not justified, Hester did not commit the greatest sin in the novel. Hers was a crime of passion and love, not premeditated or intend to hurt others. The sin in her actions was that her desire was of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code. This is proven when Hester 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. The in an elaborate way decorated scarlet letter and the style in which she clothed her daughter, Pearl, was validation of this. Hester is, indeed, a sinner and her crime was very serious. The book is named after the punishment she received for commi tting this crime and it made life incredibly difficult for herself and her partner, idealistic Arthur Dimmesdale. In overcoming the hardships, she learned many important lessons that could be used to interrupt future problems. Shame, Despair, Solitude These had been her teachers, stern and wilds ones, and they had made her strong Her comfort to the broken-hearted, humanity to the poor, and un pursuitionable presence in times of hardship were direct results of her quest for repentance.