Scarlet Letter - Sin and Redemption

Sin and Redemption


Sin is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as, “any offense, fault, or the willful breaking of religious or moral law.” We are all prone to some kind of sin, it is something that can’t be avoided. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the greatest sinner could be viewed as being Reverend Dimmesdale.
Hester Prynne’s sin was a sin of passion. It was openly acknowledged as she wore a scarlet “A” on her chest for the rest of her life. However, Hester did not commit the greatest sin of the novel. She also didn’t deliberately mean to commit the sin or to hurt others. Hester’s sin is that her passions and love were more important to her than the Puritan code. Hester fully acknowledged her guilt and displayed it with pride to the world. This was obvious by the way she wore the scarlet letter. It was designed as if she was proud. While she was standing on the scaffold with Pearl bearing the scarlet letter, Hester refus...