What single sin could one woman have possibly committed to have the sun not shine on her? The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written during the 1840’s in Salem and Concord, Massachusetts. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the main characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
The main character was Hester Prynne she had committed adultery which at the time was the worst thing anyone could do. Which at the time the punishment was death. Instead of death she was made to live a life of loneliness and darkness. “Mother the sunshine does not love you” (Hawthorne 168). The sun would never shine on Hester because of the scarlet letter that Hester wore on her chest. Even though her world was full of darkness she still helped the sick, and helped whoever asked for it even though everyone disliked her and did not want her around for they were afraid her evil would come to them. It was not until Hester had taken off the scarlet letter and forgave herself that the sun would shine on her again. “All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine” (Hawthorne 186). After she took of the scarlet letter she realized that she was truly in love with her lover Arthur Dimmesdale the village’s minister. Arthur Dimmesdale committed adultery along with Hester, but he kept it a secret from everyone so it would not ruin his reputation as a minister, it seemed he had a lot of light, but on the inside he was full of dark. “As the light drew nearer, he beheld, within its illuminated color” (Hawthorne 137). He pictured himself with a radiant halo over his head that glorified him, as he is watching Governor Winthrop passing on to heaven. Really though Arthur was full of dark for he had committed the same sin that Hester had committed, but instead of having people know what he did he kept inside of him which drove him insane. “He tortured himself, but could not purify himself of his sin” (Hawthorne 133). Really though Arthur was full of dark for he had committed the same sin that Hester had committed. Instead of having people know he kept it inside of him which made people believe that he had health problems because he was always grabbing at his heart. He was loved by all the townspeople, after a while of him grabbing his heart and being in pain they began to worry about their minister. Nobody really knew the real reason of why he kept grabbing his chest besides Hester and Roger. During …show more content…
It uses the symbols of light and dark to compare good and evil. Hester she lived in darkness until she was able to forgive herself. It also shows that keeping something locked up inside of you can eventually hurt you in Dimmesdale case it ended up killing him. For Chillingworth he was so set on getting revenge on Dimmesdale that after Dimmesdale died he realized that he was wrong for thinking that he could make Hester happy. He realized that he had ruined the lives of Hester, Arthur who had ended up dying, his own life, and left Pearl without a
The main character was Hester Prynne she had committed adultery which at the time was the worst thing anyone could do. Which at the time the punishment was death. Instead of death she was made to live a life of loneliness and darkness. “Mother the sunshine does not love you” (Hawthorne 168). The sun would never shine on Hester because of the scarlet letter that Hester wore on her chest. Even though her world was full of darkness she still helped the sick, and helped whoever asked for it even though everyone disliked her and did not want her around for they were afraid her evil would come to them. It was not until Hester had taken off the scarlet letter and forgave herself that the sun would shine on her again. “All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine” (Hawthorne 186). After she took of the scarlet letter she realized that she was truly in love with her lover Arthur Dimmesdale the village’s minister. Arthur Dimmesdale committed adultery along with Hester, but he kept it a secret from everyone so it would not ruin his reputation as a minister, it seemed he had a lot of light, but on the inside he was full of dark. “As the light drew nearer, he beheld, within its illuminated color” (Hawthorne 137). He pictured himself with a radiant halo over his head that glorified him, as he is watching Governor Winthrop passing on to heaven. Really though Arthur was full of dark for he had committed the same sin that Hester had committed, but instead of having people know what he did he kept inside of him which drove him insane. “He tortured himself, but could not purify himself of his sin” (Hawthorne 133). Really though Arthur was full of dark for he had committed the same sin that Hester had committed. Instead of having people know he kept it inside of him which made people believe that he had health problems because he was always grabbing at his heart. He was loved by all the townspeople, after a while of him grabbing his heart and being in pain they began to worry about their minister. Nobody really knew the real reason of why he kept grabbing his chest besides Hester and Roger. During …show more content…
It uses the symbols of light and dark to compare good and evil. Hester she lived in darkness until she was able to forgive herself. It also shows that keeping something locked up inside of you can eventually hurt you in Dimmesdale case it ended up killing him. For Chillingworth he was so set on getting revenge on Dimmesdale that after Dimmesdale died he realized that he was wrong for thinking that he could make Hester happy. He realized that he had ruined the lives of Hester, Arthur who had ended up dying, his own life, and left Pearl without a