The Scarlet Letter Essay

No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true" (Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Chapter XX). One of the central themes of The Scarlet letter is that unconfessed sins destroy the soul. Hawthorne has proved this in many ways and through several characters in the novel. Reverend Dimmsdale and Roger Chillingworth provide a great example of Hawthorne's theme. in contrast, Hester Prynne shows how one can gather strength and knowledge from confessing one's sins.

Rodger Chillingworth is determined to find out the identity of Hester's secret love. This plan of revenge consumes him and begins to slowly kill out his soul. Hawthore writes, " All his strength and energy-all his vital and intellectual face-seemed at once to desert him; insomuch the he positicely withered up,shrivelled away and almost vanished from mortal sight, like an uprooted weed that lies wilting in the sun." Hawthorne uses a simile comparing Chillingworth to a dying weed lying in the sun. He provides a perfect illustration of how his only purpose in life was to get revenge and once Dimmsdale died he just shriveled up like an uprooted weed with no purpose in life. I think that anyone who spends all of their time doing negative things will eventully be consumed by the evil aspects of life.

Dimmesdale is also consumed by the sins that he hides. Dimmesdale does not want to ruin his reputation by confessing to everyone what he did. Dimmesdale keeps his affair with Hester a secret. Instead of announcing his sins to the public he privately beats and punishes himself, but this does not satisfy his soul. He becomes consumed by his sin but eventully seeks salvation and forgiveness just before he dies. He says, "Thou hast escaped me! … Thou hast escaped me!” Even though he does confess, he does not have the strength and courage that Hester had.


Hawthorne uses Dimmsdale and Chillingworth to illustrate how sin can destroy your life, but he also uses Hester Prynne to show readers how you can learn from your sins and gain strength in them. Hester suffers embarrassment and was isolated from society. She walks around wearing the scarlet letter "A" being reminded of her sin every moment. Hester is strong and used her punishment to learn and at the end of the novel the meaning of the letter "A" changed from adultery to able. Hawthorne writes,"Many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." I think that Hester is a reflection of God's amazing grace. Even though she commits and sin; she confesses and eventually gains incredible strength and knowledge from her experience.

Hawthorne uses these three dominate characters to show readers how secret sins can consume you and eventually destroy you. Hester's sin of adultery has been confessed, and she wears the scarlet letter. As a result, the sin does not destroy her inward spirit. She gathers strength and courage and turns the meaning of adultery to able. Opposed to Hester, Dimmesdale does not confess his sin until after it totally destroys him. He hides his adultery and doesn't claim pearl as his daughter. His punishment is guilt and suffering. When Dimmesdale dies Chillingworth realizes that he no longer has a purpose in life because he focused his whole life on revenge. Concluding that They were both defeated by their sins.