Themes of the Scarlet Letter essays

Themes of the Scarlet Letter essays Themes Pertaining to The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrates upon many ideas referring to life and ways of living. He touches on values viewed by people of all types of social status. Morals, which should be engraved in ones mind, seemed to be forgotten. These actions that should have never been performed are topics revealed in The Scarlet Letter. The actions being accomplished include ideas such as sin, revenge, and betrayal. Hawthorne uses many techniques in developing the themes that shape this novel. The act of sin occurs many times throughout the novel. Hawthorne gradually develops the sin committed by Reverend Dimmesdale. In the beginning of the book the reader has no idea who the real father of Pearl is. Not until the end of the book did the surrounding townspeople know that Mr. Dimmesdale, a reverend, was the person held responsible. Hawthorne did a good job in prolonging the secret, which in essence helped form a great theme. Although Reverend Dimmesdales disobedience wasnt clarified until the end of the story, another action going against the church started off the novel. The sin of adultery was what Hester Prynne was guilty of committing. Hawthorne decided to ripen this concept in just the opposite way of Reverend Dimmesdales sin. Her sin ended up making her the main attraction of the marketplace. As the story progressed, everyone became more mild about her sin. So as one sin was declining, another one was progressing. Since sin was constantly being seen through out the entirety of the novel, its now easy to see why sin was a main theme. Revenge being another theme in the book, was thought and planned out by a leading character in The Scarlet Letter. Building such a character as Roger Chillingworth made it easy for Hawthorne to construct a topic like revenge. By interacting Chillingworth and Mr. Dimmesdale more often towards the middle of the...