Sin & Punishment
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a classic piece of American Romantic literature. A story of love, corruption, religion, and sin, the novel reflects many of Hawthorne’s personal beliefs. One topic that the author explores in great depth is the effects of sin and punishment. He uses sin and punishment to display irony throughout the story. He points out irony between Hester, the main character, and Dimmesdale, a well-known local church official. He also shows irony in the church, and in the nature of sin and punishment itself.
Hawthorne first displays irony through Hester and Dimmesdale. The two characters have committed adultery, and only Hester has been punished. A child, Pearl, results from this affair and is seen as part of the characters’ punishment. Hester’s true punishment is to stand in front of everyone in town for three hours and to wear the letter “A” around her neck for the rest of her life. Pearl serves as a constant reminder to Hester of the woman’s adulterous act. Dimmesdale’s punishment is more abstract than Hester’s. Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, has found out about the affair and suspects Dimmesdale to be the father of the child. Chillingworth sets out to torture Dimmesdale’s soul until the minister either dies or confesses his sin, which he has kept secret. Pearl adds to Dimmesdale’s torture, as he constantly fears that the child will eventually grow to look like him. Ironically, Hester does not feel any shame for her actions, even though everyone in the town knows of her crime. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, grows weaker with guilt each day, although no one is aware of his role in the crime. Hawthorne has created an ironic relationship between the two characters through a subtle analysis of sin and punishment. Hester is fulfilling punishment without feeling guilt, while Dimmesdale feels constant guilt without fulfilling traditional punishment. Perhaps Hawthorne is suggesting that the only true punishment is that...