1. The sin Hester Prynne commits is adultery, one of the gravest sins a person could commit in the 17th century puritan society of New England. Hester’s immediate punishment is that she has to wear the scarlet letter, and face the social ridicule that comes with it. Hester will never be able to blend in with the society around her, and instead be required to bear the consequences of her sin at all times. Hester, being cut off from mainstream society moves in to a small cottage outside of town. There Hester must raise her daughter Pearl on her own, without the help of a father figure. Without a doubt this made Hester more individualistic and radical, contrasted by the collectivist and conservative Puritan ideals espoused in the colony.
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First off, light and dark are used to symbolize publicity and concealment, respectively. For instance, the light shines bright while Hester is on the scaffold facing the humiliation and social stigma of her sin. In contrast, Dimmesdale comes to the scaffold at night unable to bear the public ridicule of the light. Likewise “His inward trouble drove him to practices, more in accordance with the old corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred” (114-115). While Hester’s sins are revealed by the light, Dimmesdale hides his in the dark. Secondly the light and darkness are symbolic of virtue and sin. Pearl “winked and turned aside her little face from the vivid light of day” because she was the product of sin and not virtue (45). Lastly light and dark are symbolic of freedom and the constraints of shame. While in the forest the light will not shine on Hester because of the shame she has placed on herself, not the actual sin. Once she takes the scarlet letter off, the sun shines on her because she is now free. Similarly, the sun shines on Dimmesdale when he confesses his sins and frees himself from
First off, light and dark are used to symbolize publicity and concealment, respectively. For instance, the light shines bright while Hester is on the scaffold facing the humiliation and social stigma of her sin. In contrast, Dimmesdale comes to the scaffold at night unable to bear the public ridicule of the light. Likewise “His inward trouble drove him to practices, more in accordance with the old corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred” (114-115). While Hester’s sins are revealed by the light, Dimmesdale hides his in the dark. Secondly the light and darkness are symbolic of virtue and sin. Pearl “winked and turned aside her little face from the vivid light of day” because she was the product of sin and not virtue (45). Lastly light and dark are symbolic of freedom and the constraints of shame. While in the forest the light will not shine on Hester because of the shame she has placed on herself, not the actual sin. Once she takes the scarlet letter off, the sun shines on her because she is now free. Similarly, the sun shines on Dimmesdale when he confesses his sins and frees himself from