The Scarlet Letter :: Literary Analysis, Hawthorne

When someone makes a mistake, they usu bothy try to hide the trueness to avoid the consequences. The puritans had a very stringent edict in which all sins were met with harsh punishment. In The Scarlet letter, by Nathanial haw, Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commit adultery, merely the commonplace only knows about Hesters sin Dimmesdales frame hidden. However, by hiding his sin, Dimmesdale suffers much more than Hester does. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorn shows that the repercussions of a secret sin are much worse than those of a revealed sin.Hesters punishment comes from society, so it is not nearly as vexing as it could be. One part of Hesters punishment is to stand on the scaffold in shame for three hours. The scaffold is a spot where iniquity is dragged out into the sunlight (57) and the truth is revealed, so everyone in the Puritan town knows that Hester is guilty of the sin. While her punishment is denigrating, it is not as naughty as the punish ments usually are, for she does not have to undergo that gripe near the neck (58). The other part of her punishment is to wear, for the rest of her life, a cerise A on her dress. The A, for adulterer, is meant to be a stigma for everyone to see and mock. However, Hester attractively embroiders the mark with gold-thread and wears it with pride. The mark stays with her after she leaves the scaffold and finds a theater on the edge of town. She is originally scorned and avoided, but she is needed She sews for the regulator and soldiers for public ceremonies. Due to the passage of time, her usefulness, and her acceptable behavior (she never battles with the public nor complains), Hester is forgiven and her sin is forgotten. Seven years after receiving the A, people change the nitty-gritty of the letter from adulterer to able, and instead of associatering to her as a sinner, the townspeople refer to her as one who is so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the discompose ( 169). Society feels that Hester had already served enough punishment, and she eventually becomes a respected adult female in the town. Since the truth about her sin is known, Hester is able to overcome societys punishment eventually she regains the acceptance, and even the admiration, of the Puritan townspeople.