Scarlet Letter Sins

Scarlet Letter Essay

How Is Sin Shown Throughout the Book?

Sin; a transgression of a religious or moral law, a serious offence or fault, to commit a sin. These definitions explain the world "Sin" as something offence towards someone. The Scarlet Letter is centered around sin, involving three characters Hester, Arthur Dimessdale, and Pearl. Hester Prynne is a young woman who commits the act of adultery. She is left out of her community because of this crime, and looked down on. Arthur Dimmesdale is the priest who helped Hester commit adultery. Dimmesdale keeps his sin hidden, and eventually becomes ill and weak from it. Pearl is the daughter of Hester, and the result of Dimmesdale's and Hester's love. These three characters are affected by sin throughout the whole story.

Sin affects Hester because after people found out, they all looked down upon her. The townspeople all thought Hester was bad, and had committed a major crime. They also wouldn't talk to her, or include her in their lives. Her only friend was Pearl. " Lonely as was Hester's situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself , she, however, incurred, no risk of want. (Hawthorne 90). And "Tho must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!" (Hawthorne 114). These two quotes explain the loneliest Hester felt during Pearl's childhood. The first quote explains how Hester's life was very lonely because nobody would befriend her. Hester had nobody to talk with about this crime, and she felt very left out. The sin she committed affected her lifestyle and her friendships. The second quote explains how "cloudy" her life is. When she tells Pearl to gather her own sunshine because she has none, this means Hester is unhappy and has no light in her life. There is no cheerfulness or bright spot in her life since Hester had Pearl. Sin has affected Hester by her happiness, her friendships, and her life.

The next example is how sin affected Arthur Dimmesdale, the priest. In the beginning, Dimmesdale was very calm throughout the book and nobody suspects that he's committed the crime, but people start noticing how Dimmesdale has changed. "His form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich ans sweet, had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it; he was often observed, on any slight alarm or other sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart with first a flush and then a paleness indicative of pain." (Hawthorne 135). And "I need no medicine...But how could the young minister say so, when every successive Sabbath, his cheek was paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before-when it had now become a constant habit, rather than a casual gesture, to press his hand over his heart?" (Hawthorne 134.) Also, Dimmesdales is highly respected among his community and everyone thinks he's perfect. The first quote describes Dimmesdale, and now sin got to him. He starts getting weaker, and his voice starts to weaken, and his voice is dying by itself. The book continues to explain how awkward Dimmesdale gets around an accident or slight alarm by taking his hand and putting it over his heart with a sudden burst of pain. People get suspicions and wonder why Dimmesdale is doing that. The second quote explains how much sin has does to Dimmesdale. Again, he's told nobody and also let's Hester take all the blame of this crime, nobody else knows except him and Hester. This quote explains Dimmesdale as being paler and weaker, and his voice trembling as he talked, like Dimmesdale was scared. It also explains how Dimmesdale is always touching his heart, like a constant habit, instead of just a casual one. At this point, Dimmesdale is getting scared and weak, and becoming ill each day and Chillingworth has become suspicions of him, and eventually tortures him. Each day that Dimmesdale doesn't confess, it seems he get's weaker and paler each day. He becomes paranoid and starts torturing himself and always touching his heart. Soon, he does tell everyone about his sin, and becomes healthier, but unfortunately dies. Sin affected Dimmesdale by making his crazy and paranoid and also by making