What Is The Theme Of Guilt And Sin In The Scarlet Letter

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Guilt and sin truly take a toll on a person and/or society. The two of those things can honestly eat at your conscience(possibly make you take your own life). Both of these elements interlock with each other one way or another. For example crime and punishment refer back to the old saying “ do the crime, do the time” it’s saying that you can 't have one without the other. In life can 't do anything without repercussions(good or bad.) For example with the The Scarlet Letter the entire story is about guilt, sin, crime, and punishment. It’s about a man and a woman who commit adultery, and what happens to their lives after the fact. For both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale their experiences of throughout the book are completely different, but they deal with the same…show more content…
Hester Prynne deals with crime in the Puritan world. She had the Scarlet Letter sewn onto her chest to show she was an adulterer, which made her along with her daughter Pearl social outcasts from society. On the other hand, her fellow adulterer Arthur Dimmesdale only committed a crime and sin again in the Puritan world, however he felt major guilt about the whole situation. He felt guilt reason being he couldn’t show the public his sin since he was the priest. Dimmesdale had to hide for many years while his private guilt ate him away, which led Arthur toward taking his own life. This helps manifest to you how guilt, sin, crime, and punishment can have extreme effects on a person. Crime, punishment, guilt, and sin can additionally have major effects on society. Refer back to the old idiom “do the crime, don 't be afraid to do the
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