Most of the men versus society conflicts in the novel are the result of the Puritan beliefs and customs. Kaul writes, The all-pervasive sense of sin is as important here [in The Scarlet Letter] as it was in the life and thought of the first Puritans (Kaul 10). The Puritans lives were focused on the discovery and punishment of sinners. Puritans, with their concern with the rigid administration of punishment to a criminal and sinner they exhibit the special outlook of a people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical (Brodhead 154). Dimmesdale feels that he will never be forgiven because he believes in an unforgiving God. The Puritan society in The Scarlet Letter was also very narrow-minded. The Puritan townspeople saw Pearl as a demon offspring, Hester as the bearer of an infernal light and heat emitting decoration, Dimmesdale as an
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angel, and Chillingworth as someone with the right to desecrate the clergyman s soul (170). Hester s suffering is the result of the Puritan custom of administering harsh punishments to sinners. One of the Salem women who witnesses Hester s punishment says The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch that is a truth at the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne s forehead (Hawthorne 46). This shows the Puritans predilections toward extremely harsh punishments. The townspeople s tendency to look down upon those who commit sin can be traced back to the belief of transcendentalism. Hawthorne s satiric portrayal of the Salem community can be accredited to his personal antitranscendentalistic beliefs. His characterization of the townspeople as unforgiving and bloodthirsty individuals serves to heighten the guilt felt by the novel s sinners.
Roger Chillingworth is an erudite, scholarly physician, and Hester s husband. His and Hester s marriage was arranged by Hester s parents, despite the large difference in age of the two. Chillingworth is much older than Hester. The couple did not love each other, but decided to marry anyway. For this, Chillingworth feels guilty. Chillingworth s major sin, the worst sin committed by anyone throughout the novel, was deciding to seek revenge on Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale accuses Chillingworth of the worst sin by saying: He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart (Hawthorne 185). When Chillingworth enters Salem, he sees his wife on the scaffold holding a baby and wearing an adornment of shame on her bosom. He bids her to not reveal his identity and he forgives her for her sin. However, he tells her, he will seek out her fellow sinner. Chillingworth says to Hester: I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books; as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine! (Hawthorne 69). Chillingworth s character undergoes dramatic changes both inside and outside. The evil that he has become on the inside shines through to the outside. Lewis Leary says of Roger Chillingworth: He has been transformed from an earnest, studious, thoughtful man to a fiend whom Hester Prynne observes with a feeling of shock and wonder (Leary 125). Roger Chillingworth never has the chance to exact his revenge on Dimmesdale because the Reverend decides to confess his transgression at the Election Day ceremonies. The leech, because he has devoted his entire life to wreaking fear into the heart of the minister, dies shortly after Dimmesdale. He shows the last bit of humanity he has left when he leaves Pearl a handsome inheritance in his
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will. Chillingworth is depicted as the antagonist in this novel due to his infliction of guilt. Chillingworth feels as if he has been designated to deal out God s punishments for the sins of earth. He feels less guilt than most characters in the book, but he is a major cause of the misery in the lives of the other characters.
Hester Prynne is a Puritan woman who displays liberal beliefs in a fiercely conservative environment. Hester objects to many of the Puritan beliefs that are held so dear to her fellow citizens of Salem. As the novel opens, Hester has become pregnant during her passionate act of adultery. She is forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest as a constant reminder of her sin. Her illegitimate daughter, Pearl, also reminds her of the crime she has committed. Hester shows us that she is ashamed of herself and her action when she says, I have thought of death, said she have wished for it would have even prayed for it, were it fit that such as I should pray for anything (Hawthorne 67). Ashamed though she may be, Hester must proceed through her everyday life without succumbing to the townspeople. Lewis Leary states: Hester, clearly, cannot hate her sin. And because of that she can only embrace all that the letter brings to her suffering and joy, solitude, challenge, and a resulting independence of spirit (Leary 119). Hester realizes that she will pay for her sin by feeling the pressure of guilt for a long time. She is doing all that she can to go on with her life and deal with the guilt at the same time.
Reverend Mister Arthur Dimmesdale is Hester s minister and fellow adulterer. He is too afraid to admit his sin as Hester has done. Because he has no outward sign that he has committed a sin (a sign such as Hester s pregnancy), the youthful minister is tempted to conceal his shameful action. He succumbs to this temptation and allows Hester to accept the punishment alone. He also adds hypocrisy to his list of sins because he speaks negatively about Hester when he has been her accomplice. Dimmesdale is compared to an important figure in Greek mythology when Ragussis writes, In the marketplace, Dimmesdale, like Oedipus, calls for the solution of the crime he himself has committed. Knowing that he is the man everyone (himself included) seeks, he is at once a criminal and a hypocrite, a knowing Oedipus” (Ragussis 68). Dimmesdale endures numerous side effects from keeping his sin a secret. His guilty conscience plays tricks on him. An example of Dimmesdale s guilt playing with his mind is evident here: We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease in his own eye and heart, that the minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter the letter A marked out in lines of dull red light. Not but the meteor may have
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shown itself at that point, burning duskily through a veil of cloud; but with no such shape as his guilty imagination gave it; or, at least, with so little definiteness, that another s guilt might have seen another symbol in it (Hawthorne 145). Dimmesdale s mental stress causes a physical deterioration. The minister s health greatly deteriorates over the two years from Hester s public humiliation to their next meeting at the Governor s mansion. This decline in Dimmesdale s physical well being is caused by the guilt from the sin he and Hester shared (101). The minister is also causing Pearl, his daughter, pain by not accepting her as his child. Pearl knows that Dimmesdale is her father, but he rejects her. This causes some spiteful actions from Pearl toward Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is also untruthful to his congregation at the Salem church. Dimmesdale remembers his sin every time he sees respect and admiration in the eyes of his congregation. He feels sorry that he has not been as holy as his followers think he has been. He wishes that he had an outward sign such as Hester s scarlet A so that he would no longer be able to deceive the people (181-182). Dimmesdale s guilt and suffering only increase with the introduction of Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth has one goal in his life, and that is to cause Dimmesdale to collapse under the intense psychological pressure and guilt he receives from adultery.
The young minister is tortured mercilessly and eventually decides that he must confess to his sin. However, he is still afraid of what would happen to him. The minister travels to the scaffold and stands before an imaginary audience in order to pay for his sin. This payment, however, does not suffice. The pain that he feels over this heart remains. His guilt can not be easily forgotten (139). Dimmesdale finds courage during the final scaffold scene. He finally does what he should have done all along (Leary 116-117). He confesses his sin to the world, thus spoiling Chillingworth s revenge. Confessing drains the last bit of life out of Dimmesdale, and he dies on the scaffold in the arms of his lover, Hester Prynne.
Pearl is the only innocent character in the novel. The offspring of sin, the reader instantly sympathizes with the child. She is shunned by the town and is denied a father throughout the entire story. At times, even Hester denies that Pearl is her daughter. Pearl may be resentful toward both of her parents because they at times have disowned her (Ragussis 62). Pearl reminds both Hester and Dimmesdale of their sins. The sun in the forest falls around Pearl and runs from Hester and Dimmesdale, presenting a barrier between the sinners and the innocent offspring of that sin (Hawthorne 192-194). Pearl was, however, loved by Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester says to the Governor: Nevertheless, this badge hath taught me, –it daily
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teaches me,–it is teaching me at this moment,–lessons whereof my child may be the wiser and better, albeit they can profit nothing to myself (Hawthorne 102). By this, Hester means that it is too late for her to be forgiven, but Pearl will learn from her mother s experiences and never be in Hester s situation. Displaying Pearl s genetic ties to Dimmesdale, Ragussis says, Pearl, as the first initial of some hidden word or name, is an abbreviated form of her father, just as the face she sees in the mirroring brook (as Dimmesdale fears) traces her father s features and is thereby capable of revealing him as Hester s fellow transgressor (Ragussis 65). Pearl proves that she loves her father by not telling anyone that he is her father. Because Pearl has committed no sin, she is the ultimate heroine in the novel. She overcomes the adversity of her birth to eventually be accepted by her father. She is also left a great deal of money when Chillingworth passes away, and it is believed that she grew up to marry well and lead a happy and productive life. Pearl is the only character in the novel that is not affected by her own guilt. However, the guilt of the other characters shapes and molds Pearl s life by influencing the other character s thoughts and actions.
The theme of guilt as reparation for sin in The Scarlet Letter is revealed through Nathaniel Hawthorne s use of northeastern, colonial settings, various conflicts, and characters that must live with guilt for the sins they have committed. Hawthorne s use of the settings added depth and mood to the work. The New England region s climate and weather perfectly reflected the depression and guilty consciences of the characters. The city of Salem was also an excellent place to set a story of sin and suffering. Hester Prynne, Reverend Mister Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Roger Chillingworth experience many conflicts in this novel. Among the conflicts portrayed are many examples of man versus man, man versus society, and man versus himself conflicts. Roger Chillingworth committed the worst sin of all, according to Dimmesdale. He violated the sanctity of Hester and Dimmesdale s hearts. For this sin, Chillingworth was condemned to suffer. His insurmountable need for revenge consumed him and ruled his life. Because he was taken over by jealousy and the need for revenge, Roger Chillingworth passed away after Dimmesdale s death. He showed, however, that he was not totally heartless when he left Peal a large inheritance. Hester s character dealt with the guilt most efficiently. Hester was brave, bold, and strong; therefore, she survived the tragic situation in Salem. 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 77). Reverend Mister Arthur Dimmesdale could not handle the pressure exerted by
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his guilt and hypocrisy. Pearl was periodically and unjustly blamed for the actions of her parents. She developed an evil attitude and isolated herself from the children of the community. Despite her attitude, Pearl was the only innocent and sinless character in the novel. Pearl is the ultimate winner in the novel, based on her innocence. She grows up to lead a productive life. I believe Kaul sums up the entire theme of the novel by stating: They were sick and so were the purest of their brethren with the plague of sin. A deadly sickness, indeed! Feeling its symptoms within the breast, men concealed it with fear and shame, and were only more cruel to those unfortunates whose pestiferous sores were flagrant to the common eye. Nothing save a rich garment could ever hide the plague spot. In the course of the world s lifetime, every remedy was tried for its cure and extirpation except the single one, the flower that grew in heaven and was sovereign for all the miseries of earth. Man had never attempted to cure sin by Love (Kaul 11). This is an example of the antitranscendental belief that evil exists everywhere. Kaul s statement means that Love, a power found in its finest state only in heaven, could have cured the sores of guilt that the characters displayed.
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