The Scarlet Letter Expository Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter explains what sin is and what you get as a result of a sin. As Puritans, these people were raised in a very strict and religious background. They know that if they commit any type of sin not only with they be punished by God, but they will also be criticized and looked upon differently by society. Sin is an immoral act that is against divine law. The story illustrates the word sin because a character in the book named Hester Prynne committed adultery, a sin. Hawthorne explains her struggle and in a way is very sympathetic towards Hester.
Hawthorne’s point of view on sin is that we were born with original sin but we have the choice to either commit sins or not. We often criticize others when they sin but we still tend to do wrong. In chapter three Hawthorne said “If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! “He is saying that when you sin, you are too suffer. “Small” sin is often overlooked by society. For example if someone lied, they sinned but no one punishes them for it.
Meanwhile if someone kills someone, they get punished to death. Hester committed a sin and was humiliated while others around committed sins every day. This isn’t right because if someone is going to be punished for a big sin then someone who commits a little sin should be punished as well Although some sin is greater than others, we don’t have the right to put someone down because you feel the sin you committed isn’t as serious. In chapter 15 Hester said “Be it sin or no,”, as she still gazed after him, “I hate the man! ”…”Yes, I hate him! ” repeated Hester, more bitterly than before. “He betrayed me!
He has done me worse wrong than I did him! ” Hester’s point is that she feels like she shouldn’t be executed as hard as Dimmesdale because he committed the greater sin. As I said before, a sin is a sin. Yes, some sins are more serious than others but no matter how you look at it its still displeasing God and you will be punished for it. We all make mistakes every once in a while and that’s okay. If you made a mistake, learned from it, and never do it again then God knows your heart. Sins can sometimes be mistakes if you learn from them and don’t repeat them. In Chapter 23, Chilling worth says “Thou hast escaped me! repeated more than once. “Thou hast escaped me! ” “May God forgive thee! ” said the minister. “Thou, too, hast deeply sinned! ” Dimmesdale has committed a sin but in the end he confesses it. In similarity to Dimmesdale, Chillingworth’s life has been one big disaster and now he’s starting to realize it. We all commit sins, some bigger than others. Sins are really bad mistakes. That’s when original sin comes in at. We are all human so we were all born sinners. We are so quick to judge others when we need to look in the mirror first. So as a society we need to reflect and find our flaws and try to fix them so we can be overall good people.
