Scarlet Letter: The Power of Sin

A detailed Summary of Scarlet Letter: The Power of Sin

Sin is a powerful force that has the ability to destroy anything that comes in its path. In life, sin is able to control people and manipulate them into different individuals. Nowhere is this capability more evident than in Hawthorne's writing. Hawthorne uses powerful stories to display the pain and troubles even the smallest peccadillo can cause. In both "Young Goodman Brown" and The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne demonstrates that shame and guilt caused by sin are capable of escalating to mask the true humans behind their curtains.

The scarlet letter disables Hester Prynne from fulfilling her potential, yet she is able to survive by becoming a different person. She can no longer live the life she once had. The letter, which represents all sins, hides Hester's beauty and passion, to the extent that she only becomes known as the carrier of the letter. As the narrator states,

The effect of the symbolXor rather, of the position in respect to society that was indicated by itXon the mind of Hester Prynne herself, was powerful and peculiar. All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline, which might have been repulsive, had s

he possessed friends or companions to be repelled by it. Even the attractiveness of her person had undergone a similar change. (142)

Turning the corner by the meeting-house, he spied the head of Faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such a joy at sight of him that she skipped along the street and almost kissed her husband before the whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without greeting. (744)

The shame, that the letter represents, imprisons Hester's heart and blocks it from being expressed. Hester's true identity is hidden behind the letter, which repels all, including sunshine. The effects are never more evident than when Hester's own daughter acknowledges that Hester's soul hides behind a veil. ¥"Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom"'(160). In this simple comment, Pearl says much more than she knows. She identifies the fact that Hester is banished from everything, including sunshine. Hester's guilt, represented by the letter, deems her unworthy for the simplest of joys. She is constantly sensing the pain of her guilt, but she does not let it weaken her. Instead, her shame empowers her to overcome the rejection of society.

Mr. Dimmesdale would perhaps have seen this individual's character more perfectly, if a certain morbidness, to which sick hearts are liable, had not rendered him suspicious of all mankind. Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared. (114)

"Young Goodman Brown" shows that not only one's own sin, but also the sins of those around him can cause a transformation in man. Goodman Brown begins the story as an innocent man who feels he is unworthy of his wife's love. He states, "she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven" (736). He feels he is inferior to those around him, and that he has been truly blessed to be living with those who are around him. This view soon changes upon realizing that everyone in his life has hidden sin. Paranoia takes over Young Goodman Brown's soul. He returned from the forest as "A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1595
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English