Essay ------------------------ The scarlet letter tells the story of sin, guilt and repentance.
The scarlet letter was given to Hester and Dimmesdale to constantly remind them of their sins. Guilt ate away at characters, such as Dimmesdale, when trying to conceal his sins. Repentance was also felt by characters throughout The Scarlet Letter. A sin is defined as any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse etc.
Sinning plays a huge role in the story of The Scarlet Letter.The most know sin was made by both Hester and Dimmesdale when they committed adultery. Pearl could be considered as a symbol of sins because she never let Hester forget what she did. Rodger Chillingworth was the guiltiest sinner of them all.
He never felt remorse for the pain and suffering he caused others. Guilt is defined as a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong etc. In The Scarlet letter Dimmesdale felt massive amounts of guilt that basically destroyed him.The choice he made of keeping his sins a secret slowly ate away at him until he couldn’t handle it any longer, opposed to Hester who dealt with her guilt within the eyes of the public. Repentance is defined as deep sorrow for a past sin or wrongdoing. I believe that Hester feels repentance towards marrying Chillingworth in the first place.
She regrets committing herself to him because she does not love him. Dimmesdale feels deep sorrow towards Hester and Pearl, he sees the pain and suffering he caused, yet he does not have enough will power within him to reveal him actions until the very end of the novel.
