Sin and its Effects on an Individual The calm and erudite physician removes the slumbering minister’s clothing‚ and‚ upon witnessing the dark secret on the minister’s bare chest‚ becomes engulfed in vengeful delight. The leech‚ unable to contain his ecstasy‚ releases it in a cathartic dance as he flails and sways like a madman. In The Scarlet Letter‚ Nathaniel Hawthorne argues that sin has detrimental and severe lasting effects on one’s life. Through the use of third person omniscient point of view
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In protestant times‚ sin was considered to be part of breaking the law. Sin not only hurts one in the church’s eyes but also in the townspeople’s eyes. Sin can lead to guilt and guilt can tear away at the body both physically and mentally. Both sin and guilt are represented in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter which reveals the disintegration of the individual psyche: a tendency for the life of the body‚ the mind and the soul to fall apart due to sin‚ like the broken and isolated lives of
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Hester Prynne - Hester is the book’s protagonist and the wearer of the scarlet letter. The letter‚ a patch of fabric fit as a fiddle of "A‚" implies that Hester is a "adulterer." As a young lady‚ Hester wedded an elderly man‚ Chillingworth‚ who sent her ahead to America to live yet never tailed her. While waiting for him‚ she engaged in extramarital relations with a Puritan pastor named Dimmesdale‚ after which she brought forth Pearl her daughter. She meets both her spouse and her significant other
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Prompt 1: Identify the sins of Hester Dimmesdale and Chillingworth Hester Prynne’s sin in the Scarlet Letter‚ was adultery. She committed adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. This sin in particular was one of the more frowned upon of the Puritan faith. In result of this sin‚ she became pregnant and gave birth to Pearl‚ who becomes the highlight of Hester’s life. Dimmesdale’s sin as recently explained was adultery as well. He as the priest was looked upon as the most honorable man in the
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ the concept of secret sin often conflicts with many of the characters’ identities. More often than not‚ this concealment leads to isolation and self-bewilderment. Indeed‚ Hawthorne demonstrates this concept when he remarks how “ No man… can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude”(259). Moreover‚ the consequences of leading a double life fueled by “secret sin" permeate this “tale of human frailty and sorrow” in general and Arthur Dimmesdale’s ongoing
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Summary: Roger Chillingworth and Reverend Dimmesdale look out onto the graveyard‚ and talk about the way guilt can manifest itself in ugly physical ways if a person does not confess their guilt. The men see Pearl and Hester in the graveyard‚ and Pearl places burrs on her mother’s scarlet ‘A’. Chillingworth suggests that Dimmesdale has a spiritual ailment that has been manifesting itself on Dimmesdale’s physical body. Dimmesdale becomes increasingly angry and defensive‚ and says that in that case
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The Scarlet Letter Essay Topics Below I have given you several essay topics on The Scarlet Letter. Choose one and compose an essay in response to the questions it raises. The essay should be 3-5 pages in length‚ should be carefully proofread‚ and should follow the guidelines defined by MLA. Due Tuesday‚ September 27‚ 2011‚ at the beginning of class. 1. Explain how The Scarlet Letter may be read as a “psychological novel.” You may want to focus on the psychological nature of one or two
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter‚ Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are two men that have three main differences in character. The first trait is Chillingworth and Dimmesdale’s difference in their internal struggle. Chillingworth is a man who is on fire with his want of revenge. At the beginning of the novel he makes a vow to find the man Hester had an affair with. “He will be known!” is the statement that defines Chillingworth’s life (57). Dimmesdale is a man who is being crushed
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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ the author makes it clear the main idea is sin and guilt. In the puritan world sin is typically punished with death or embarrassment. Embarrassment is the punishment Hester Prynne was punished with. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols throughout the book to support the main idea. Three symbols in The Scarlet Letter that supports this main idea is: The letter “A‚” Hester’s daughter Pearl‚ and colors. The most obvious symbol is the scarlet letter A. In
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Hawthorne portrays Arthur Dimmesdale as a hypocrite in order to show the contrast between a person’s life with society knowing their sins‚ like Hester’s‚ and a person’s life with concealed sins‚ like Dimmesdale’s‚ as well as exhibiting the negative effects that hypocrisy can have on someone’s conscience. Body: Throughout the novel‚ Dimmesdale exhibits his life of hypocrisy more and more as he struggles to deal with its negative effects on his conscience. From the moment Dimmesdale had an intimate
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