Scarlett Letter
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne paints a picture of two equally guilty sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and shows how both characters deal with their different forms of punishment and feelings of remorse for what they have done. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale are both guilty of adultery, but have altered ways of performing penance for their actions. While Hester must pay for her sins under the watchful eye of the world around her, Reverend Dimmesdale must endure the heavy weight of his guilt in secret. It may seem easier for Reverend Dimmesdale to live his daily life since he is not surrounded by people who shun him as Hester is shunned, but in the end Reverend Dimmesdale suffers a far worse punishment than his female counterpart. As the story opens, Hester makes her way from the prison door to the market place, revealing for the first time the scarlet letter A fastened to her gown. Hester must wear this letter A as a penance for committing adultery and to set an example for the rest of the community. As Hester stands on the platform, facing her fellow citizens, she feels horrible humiliation on top of all her guilt for the sin she has committed. "The unhappy culprit sustained
herself as best a women might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes, all fastened upon her, and concentrating on her bosom. It was almost intolerable to be borne" (Hawthorne 58). At the same time Reverend Dimmesdale sits above Hester, seeming to judge her just as everyone else does. At the command of his superior, he questions Hester, "...I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer...though he were to step down beside thee, in thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life" (Hawthorne 68). At this point, it is unknown to the reader that the "fellow-sufferer" Reverend Dimmesdale refers to is himself. The Reverend says all this to make sure that no one realizes that he is a sinner as well. The Reverend is also speaking of the pain that he himself feels in his heart. The Scarlet Letter paints a picture of two sinners, Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. By describing the torment that each character goes through throughout the story, it depicts how bad it is to feel guilty. Moreover, this story illustrates the torture one endures if one hides a guilty conscience. In the end all will come to justice. In the end one realizes that even though the truth hurts, it is the best thing in this world. because of the dark secret he keeps hidden in what his parishioners think to be a miraculous white soul. Day after day his thoughts are taken over by his feelings of guilt and hypocrisy. "He longed to speak out, from his own pulpit, at the full height of h
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Approximate Word count = 1053
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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