In "The Scarlet Letter," Nathaniel Hawthorne addresses the subjects of sin and the

punishment for the sin. In the story Hester Prynne had to deal with her sin of adultery.

Hawthorne described how things were in that day and time. More than likely Hester would have

been killed for her sin, but she was not because of the child. The era of time that Hester lived in

was very strict on actions and were very religious about every thing. "The Scarlet Letter" was a

story that revealed a life lesson in it. I believe that Hester was treated wrongly by the people of

the town because all the people treated her as an outcast.

Ms. Prynne had been in prison while she was pregnant. Hester had to stand among the towns

people and they all wanted to know who the father was, but Hester would never tell them. Hester

had committed the sin of adultery with Reverend Dimmesdale. When Hester was standing before

the towns people she noticed that her husband was in the crowd of people. Her husband had sent

Hester to America before him so that she could find them a place to settle, but Mr. Prynne never

showed up so Hester thought that he was dead.

Nathaniel Hawthorne described how the towns people were by what their actions.

Hawthorne let us read to find out the characters and how they were as a person. Hawthorne lets

us know that religion was very strict in the lives of the people. The people followed the laws of

the bible and if you sinned you had to deal with the town. Some of the punishments were cruel,

but the punishments that they had to deal with then is much different from today. Some of the

punishments may have not been fair, but the people did what they thought was right. Hester

Dethloff 2

Prynne was isolated from everyone in the town except when she had to go to the marketplace

because she did not go to church any more after her sin. It could have been a good thing for

Hester and her daughter, Pearl, to move out of the town. The move was good in different ways,

Hester would not have to put up with the humiliation from the towns people and Pearl would not

have to deal with being the child of sin.

I have different views of the treatment that Hester and Pearl. Hester should have been

punished if she did not know that she was doing wrong, but Hester knew she had sinned. Hester

Prynne had sinned and she knew her consequences. Pearl was just a child and the people of the

town treated her as if she was a made of the devil works. Pearl was a child without friends and

played by herself mostly outside. I believe most of the women of the town wanted Hester gone

because she was very beautiful and even when she got out of jail Hawthorne describes her as

being as beautiful as ever. By Hester being beautiful that made the women jealous therefore they

wanted her punished. I believe that Hester's looks had some to do with her punishment.

In conclusion Nathaniel Hawthorne points out the importance of religion and sin. Religion

had a large impact on the "The Scarlet Letter." Religion had to do with most of the punishment

that Hester Prynne received by the people of the town. Also sin was one of the main focuses of

the story. The sin of adultery that Hester Prynne and Mr. Dimmesdale committed was the reason

for the whole story. The sin that was committed acted out to be more of a life lesson to people.

Hester's punishment was made some what upon her looks along with her sin. In the era of time

which "The Scarlet Letter" took place mostly everything was based on the bible.

ISBN 0 14 24.3726 3 ASIN 0671006207
ISBN 1593080123 ASIN 0844606863
ISBN 0151795681 ASIN 0801012139