Sin is a prevalent theme in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne expresses the idea that all sin will be punished in one way or another, but the consequences will be less severe if you confess. This idea is shown through the effects of sin on the lives and personalities of Hester, Dimmesdsale, and Chillingworth, as those who confessed of their sin suffered less than those who did not. Unlike Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, Hester accepted her punishment for adultery. She stood upon the scaffold before the community and willingly wore the scarlet letter that represented her sin. Due to this, her life was forever changed. The Puritan community looked at her as an outcast and mumbled insults to her. Hawthorne
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Nicole Smith writes in "The Scarlet Letter: The Effects of Sin on the Mind, Body, and Soul", "Chillingworth on the other hand, seems to make peace with his status as a villain and does not seem to struggle often with the fate of his soul or his conflicting thoughts." Chillingworth was unable to forgive Dimmesdale of concealing his sin, and therefore became obsessed with torturing him for his own revenge. His inability to let his grudge go turned him evil. Hawthorne states in Chapter 17, paragraph 7, "Old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man's faculty of transforming himself into a Devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a Devil's office...". This shows that the effects of sin on Chillingworth effected his morality and his physical body, by transforming him into something more evil...." Gao writes, "Gradually he loses his humanity...,” and, "...his conscience is also corroded...." In the novel, Dimmesdale states that Chillingworth has sinned worse than either he or Hester. He says in paragraph 25 of Chapter 17, "That old man's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!" Chillingworth was not always this way. In paragraph 1 of chapter 10 Hawthorne notes, "...Chillingwoth throughout life, had been calm in temperament, kindly, though not of warm affections, but ever, and in all his relations with the world a pure an upright man." This shows that prior to being corrupted by sin, he was once a respectable man. At the end of the novel, after Dimmesdale perished, Chillingworth lost his purpose and passed shortly after. Chillingworth became consumed by vengeance and in the end paid the ultimate
Nicole Smith writes in "The Scarlet Letter: The Effects of Sin on the Mind, Body, and Soul", "Chillingworth on the other hand, seems to make peace with his status as a villain and does not seem to struggle often with the fate of his soul or his conflicting thoughts." Chillingworth was unable to forgive Dimmesdale of concealing his sin, and therefore became obsessed with torturing him for his own revenge. His inability to let his grudge go turned him evil. Hawthorne states in Chapter 17, paragraph 7, "Old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man's faculty of transforming himself into a Devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a Devil's office...". This shows that the effects of sin on Chillingworth effected his morality and his physical body, by transforming him into something more evil...." Gao writes, "Gradually he loses his humanity...,” and, "...his conscience is also corroded...." In the novel, Dimmesdale states that Chillingworth has sinned worse than either he or Hester. He says in paragraph 25 of Chapter 17, "That old man's revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!" Chillingworth was not always this way. In paragraph 1 of chapter 10 Hawthorne notes, "...Chillingwoth throughout life, had been calm in temperament, kindly, though not of warm affections, but ever, and in all his relations with the world a pure an upright man." This shows that prior to being corrupted by sin, he was once a respectable man. At the end of the novel, after Dimmesdale perished, Chillingworth lost his purpose and passed shortly after. Chillingworth became consumed by vengeance and in the end paid the ultimate