COURSE- M.A.
SEMESTER- III
ENROLMENT NO.- 14101009
PAPER NO.- 10
PAPER NAME- THE AMERICAN LITERATURE
BATCH YEAR- 2014-16
email ID- dave.urvi71@gmail.com
TOPIC- THE SCARLET LETTER AS THE STORY OF SIN, CRIME AND
PUNISHMENT
SUBMITTED TO- SMT. S.B. GARDI
DEPARTMENT OF
ENGLISH
MAHARAJA
KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI
BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY
THE SCARLET LETTER AS THE STORY OF
SIN, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
In the
second coming, it is said "To be without sin, shame and sorrow is to be
more than human." In the Bible, it has been written "Thou salt not commit adultery."
It is god's seventh commandment and those who violate it are sinners.
The Scarlet Letter takes us to the early days
of Puritan society. This book has derived its title from the custom which was
strictly practiced by the Puritan settles. Whenever a woman was caught in
adultery, she had to wear the letter 'A' embroidered in Scarlet colour on her
dress. Scarlet colour symbolises blood, death, child birth and life. The
scarlet letter is a book which deals with the consequences of the sin of
adultery in the lives of three people most affected by it. These three people
are Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. The pair of illicit
lovers and the aggrieved husband. It is an outrage f one individual against
another and against the social code of ethics. This story is a story of sin too.
That is why Hester and Dimmesdale who have committed adultery cannot be
forgiven. The novel begins with a scene where a young woman. Hester Prynne, is
standing at the scaffold in the summer morning in the summer morning in the
market place in Boston. She has committed adultery and stands in disgrace and
tries to hide the scarlet and tries to hide the scarlet letter 'A' on her bosom by holding her child
close. Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne as "The woman was tall, with a
figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair,
so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which besides
being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the
impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes." People see
Hester as a morally degraded woman and expressed hatred. The chief minister and
Dimmesdale urge her to confess the name of her lover who should be sharing her
but Hester remains silent. Seeing his wife on the scaffold, he decides to
conceal his identity and hastily puts his finger to his lips to warm Hester
against the betraying the slightest sign of recognition. When Hester is taken
back to the prison, a doctor visits her which turns out to be his husband Chillingworth.
He tries many a times to know the name of Hester's lover but does not get
successful and gets frustrated. Hester and Dimmesdale then plan to go to other
place and decide to leave on election arrives. When the sermon gets over,
people walk out of the church and Dimmesdale walks in. He proclaims his guilt
and shows everyone 'A' imprinted on his chest and then dies. As Chillingworth
couldn't take revenge, he dies of frustration. Here we can say that Dimmesdale
is a greater sinner than Hester. He tries to conceal his crime from the public.
He goes against the purity of his profession his conscience allows him no rest
and he gets troubled constantly by his soul. He adds hypocrisy to his sin. he
can't sit or study peacefully. He becomes restless and can't sleep peacefully.
He remains awake at night, writes sermons, keeps fast. 'A man must be true
confessor' is a puritan belief. He goes deeper and deeper into the pit of sin.
The secret of is sin burns within him, which prompts him to confess yet he is
afraid to reveal himself for what he is. Chillingworth is a more greater
sinner. He was absent from Hester's life for seven years. In this case, we can
say that a person needs love and so Hester fell in love with dimmesdale. He is a person who is
devoted to cold science. The way in which he broods over revenge and marks down
highs victim and drives him steadily to self-destruction is made very
creditable when he learns of Hester's shame, he dewiest his very identity and
pursues revenge. 'Sinful father feels more pain than sinful mother.' Whenever
we talk about sin, we talk about punishment. God also gave punishment to his
children Adam and Eve. By giving birth to the child, she crossed broke the
moral order of the society according to the puritan society. Though Dimmer dale
loved Hester, he could not cross the Puritan culture moral order of the
society. They both are self conscious. Hester is the first sinner. Other people
become happy when Hester is punished as they have conditional mind and they do
not feel her feelings.
'Sinful
mother is more happy than a sinful father.' When Dimmesdale comes to meet
Hester in secret place or you have to accept us in daylight in front of
everyone." The forest is shown as dark forest. She is tempered there and
so she goes there. For people, it is a punishment to go in the dark, deep
forest. Hester goes with the child and when she comes out, she is not the same
Hester. It is due to the dark forest, she could change the sign A'. Hester
returns. She has to. Her sin lies in New England. Hester chooses to return to
New England to live the ethical life: "But there was a more real life for
Hester Prime, here in New England than in that unknown region where Pearl had
found a home. here had been her sin; here her sorrow and here was yet to be her
penitence." Pearl constantly
reminds her mother Hester about her sin or crime which was done in past. When
they are living in the forest, Pearl tells Hester: "Mother, the sunshine
does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of
something on your bosom. It will not feel from me, for I wear nothing on my
bosom yet." She can be said a born misfit of the infantile world. The
shadow of parent's sin can be seen levering over the child of Hester.
CONCLUSION:- The Scarlet Letter is a tragic
story of sin, crime and Punishment which can be learnt by the deeds of all the
characters, the crime they committed and the situations they face. The act of
adultery is certain a crime against the individual. Same way, it is also a
crime against society as it involves the violation of the moral code formulated
and honoured by the society. Hawthorne has given the concept of sin and evil
which is a puritan heritage. Sin and crime was the constant theme in this novel
and the consequences of guilt as primarily psychological in nature. Hester's
loveliness is shown by a sense of guilt. The story shows the concept of sin,
crime and Punishment through Hester's life and Dimmesdale's inner guilt.
Works Cited
Hawthorne,
Nathaniel. "The Scarlet Letter." July 2015.
Assignment
prepared from class notes
