Theme of Sin in The Scarlet Letter Essay Sample

In the story The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthore, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmedale, and Pearl Prynne all portray sin. Although all three characters are different in their journeys with sin in this novel, soon their similarities will be unveiled. These secrets being revealed resulting in large shifts in their lives shows the dangerous world behind these sins. The extensive lasting effects of sin leads to a sense of attachment to them.   

Hester Prynne, a great sinner in this novel, was once married to a man named Roger Chillingworth and cheated on him with another man she met along the road, Arthur Dimmesdale. This action resulting in a child, Pearl, caused Hester to be shunned by society and forced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ standing for “adultery” upon her bosom as punishment. This way, Hester would not only have to live with her sin internally, but bear the consequences of her peers as well. Clearly stating that Hester felt isolated in her town due to her sin, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, says, “It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 51). As time went on, living with the guilt of this sin had not gotten any easier as she still could not seem to get out of her past while she herself, as well as her peers, had not gotten over what she had done. Highlighting the fact that Hester felt helpless as far as her future, Hawthorne says, “The days of the far-off future would toil onward, still with the same burden for her to take up and bear along with her” (Hawthorne 73). Years of pain and disapproval later, people passed on, times changed, and Hester and Pearl eventually vanished. However, later on Hester returned home alone, and as Hawthorne states, “The scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence, too” (Hawthorne Chapter 24). Sadly, after much change in Hester as well as her town, she soon passed away with the letter ‘A’ engraved on her gravestone in memory of her life story. Although her sin had caused much pain and sorrow, it had a very large impact on her life and shaped her into the person she was.

Much like Hester, Dimmesdale suffered the consequences of adultery as well, yet in a completely different way due to the inequality of their punishments. Communicating the contrast in how he and Hester experienced consequences for their sin, Dimmesdale says, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (Hawthorne 173). Dimmesdale suffered internally instead of both internally and externally like Hester by knowing he was a hypocrite and a liar about his sin, but not owning up to it. Therefore, although Dimmesdale’s consequence for his sin may seem less brutal than Hester’s because of the lack of publicity, it is clear that they both endured much pain from this. Hawthorne draws attention to Dimmesdale's misery by stating, “Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self!” (Hawthorne 131). It is evident that while neither Dimmesdale or Hester are there for eachother in this tragedy they should be facing together, they feel alone. That was until one day when Dimmesdale hosted a sermon on the scaffold that Hester attended, as well as all the townspeople. After this sermon, while people were exiting, Dimmesdale did the unexpected. After years and years of leaving Hester in the dust, he called both Hester and Pearl up to the scaffold with him. Revealing the mark upon his chest for all to see, Hawthorne states, “It was on him!” (Hawthorne 228). After finally unveiling this secret that had been burning deep inside him for ages, Dimmesdale bid his farewells to Hester and soon died because of his sin. While he too had the letter ‘A’ engraved on his gravestone just as Hester did, it shows the powerful impact his sin had on his life as well. 

Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin had not only had the physical consequence of the letter ‘A’ on both of their chests, but Pearl as well. Hawthorne says, “God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonored bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven!” (Hawthorne 81). Therefore, Pearl, being a symbolism of sin as a whole in The Scarlet Letter, is known in this novel as the physical consequence from God, while the scarlet letter is a consequence from their town. Pearl and the scarlet letter are both known as tokens of Hester and Dimmesdale’s adultery and are supposed to serve as daily reminders, mainly for Hester, of her failure. Hawthorne confirms that Pearl and the scarlet letter go hand in hand by saying, “Pearl is the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life” (Hawthorne 92). That being said, Pearl being aware that the scarlet letter and her represent the same thing, she seemed to have some sort of admiration towards it. Pearl's physical attachment to her mothers sin is shown in the forest when Hester says, “You strange child! Why don’t you come to me?”.  This occured in the forest when Pearl refused to approach her parents as long as the scarlet letter was not on her chest. Clearly, Pearl feels connected with sin by loving Hester’s scarlet letter and wanting it to stay. 

Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl are all attached to one another by sin. Hester and Dimmesdale are physically connected by and to Pearl because without them committing adultery she wouldn't be alive. Therefore, full circle Hester and Dimmesdale are not only connected by sin, but with Pearl, by blood because of their sin. Emphasizing this, Hawthorne says, “And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two” (Chapter 6). In addition to being connected to one another through God’s consequence, they are also attached to one another through the scarlet letter. Without Hester and Dimmesdale committing adultery the scarlet letter would not exist; therefore, the scarlet letter is a representation of their connection as well. While the letter serves Hester as an attachment to family, it also “has been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment” (84). However, regardless of the consequence, she knows the significance behind the letter is what keeps her connected with those she loves and shows she wouldn't change it by saying, “I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this!” (ch8). This is said to Governor Bellingham in hopes that Pearl would be allowed to stay with her while she clearly feels an attachment to the scarlet letter and Pearl, both of her punishments.