Maldonado 1

John P. Maldonado
Mrs. Mays
English III, B1
21 October 2014
Sin and its Disfiguring Effects
The Scarlet Letter is a novel that occurs during the Puritan age of Colonial America.
Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel was a woman who committed adultery with one of
the ministers of the Puritan church. As a punishment for her sinful act, the early town of Boston
forced Hester to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest as a stigma to remind herself and everyone
else of what she had done and what will ensue to those who may commit the same
crime.Throughout the novel, both Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale (the minister who is Hesters
accomplice) are changed both in a physical and mental state. Hester changes because of the
effect of the letter on her clothing and her physical being and Dimmesdale is changed because he
constantly battles between revealing the truth of his sin and keeping his secret to himself. Both
characters experience dramatic changes in the novel because of their wrongdoings in the eyes of
their zealous society.
Hester Prynne was ashamed and alienated from her society because of her crime. She
became a scapegoat and an example to her town of what would happen to others if they were to
commit adultery. While Hester is cast off from her society, she becomes contemplative,
knowledgable, and idle and begins to speculate on human nature, social organization, and moral
questions. Hester goes and experiences things other women were not able to do, The scarlet
letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair,

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Solitude! These had been her teachers stern and wild onesand they had made her strong, but
taught her much amiss (Hawthorne 18, 300). The scarlet letter was a key that enabled Hester to
go and tread in places no other women dared. The stigma on her bosom transformed Hester by
causing her to be both pensive and by making her physical appearance become rough. The
effect of the symbol on the mind of Hester Prynne herself was powerful and peculiar. Even the
attractiveness of her person had undergone a similar change. It was a sad transformation, her rich
and luxuriant hair had either been cut off, or was so completely hidden by a cap, that not a
shining lock of it ever once gushed into the sunshine (Hawthorne 13, 245). Hester, unlike
Dimmesdale, was able to carry a stigma that acted as a double edged sword; it taught her
valuable lessons and acted as a key to unexplored areas of Puritan society while it affected her
conscience and her physical being. It gave Hester knowledge, but it came at a price.
Arthur Dimmesdale was being consumed by a flame in his body. This particular flame
was being fueled by sin and the constant battle between truth and falsehood. Throughout the
entire novel, Dimmesdale struggles to reveal his sin to his society and as a result he becomes;
sleepless, He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness, sometimes
with a glimmering lamp, and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking-glass, and he would
fast and scourge himself. It was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious
Puritans, to fast until his knees trembled beneath him and scourges himself all as a result for
keeping in his secret and sin (Hawthorne 11, 218). All of these actions were consuming
Dimmesdales life and all were being perpetrated by his own hand. The minister became mad
and mentally ill because of the constant battle raging within himself.

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Hester had become more knowledgeable and rough from her physical appearance as a
direct result of her sin. Because of her alienation, she was to experience and do things other
Puritan women were not able to do, and she was able to tread on ground where others not dare
go. The scarlet letter had both altered her consciousness and her outward appearance and as a
result it changed her from a beautiful, young, pensive woman, to someone who became rough
with her physical appearance and idle in her thoughts. Arthur Dimmesdale was being consumed
by his sin. He would scourge, fast, and would refuse to sleep all as a result for his sin. Because of
these actions, Dimmesdale had developed a heart condition that would soon lead to his death.
Once he had died, he became a symbol that for many stood as a parable, illustrating that even
one of the most powerful religious figures can still commit sin. Both characters experienced sin
and were altered by it; Hester learned from her sin but she became rough and worn down, while
Dimmesdale kept his sin inward and was being poisoned and consumed by his actions. By the
end of the novel Hesters stigma no longer stood for adultery, but was rather considered a
legendary symbol for the town while Dimmesdale died with ambiguity.