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Carmela Pilande

Mrs. Klimas

English, Period 4

28 November 2017

The Irreparable Damage of Puritan Intolerance

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic American novel The Scarlet Letter explores the narrow-

minded values and beliefs of the Puritans. The Puritan ideals of absolute perfection and harsh

judgement of others are heavily condemned by Hawthorne in his writing. Using the lives of

characters like Dimmesdale, a beloved minister who commits the sin of adultery with Hester, a

married woman, as symbols, Hawthorne portrays the struggles of living in a Puritan society.

Through his selection of detail, impassioned tone, and use of contrasting images, Hawthorne

conveys his frustration regarding the harsh intolerance of the Puritans.

Numerous details throughout this novel indicate Hawthorne’s anger towards the

damaging impact Puritan intolerance has on children. Hawthorne’s depiction of Pearl, Hester and

Dimmesdale’s secret love child, as having in all her play around her mother’s cottage, “never

created a friend but always seemed to be sowing… the dragon’s teeth, whence sprung… armed

enemies, against whom she rushed to battle” emphasizes Pearl’s sense of complete isolation

against a vengeful world (79). By fabricating her into a devilish symbol of sin, the Puritans

ensure Pearl’s cruel rejection from all mankind. Their actions regardless of Pearl’s innocence of

any wrongdoings signify the depth of their unjustified hatred. Another vital detail that further

illustrates the damaging effect of Puritan values is the description of the Puritan children as,

“being the most intolerant brood that ever lived” who sensing the hostility against Hester and

Pearl, “scorned them in their hearts… and reviled them” (78). Being raised in a society centered

around prejudice and animosity fosters and even escalates the degree of these traits in the Puritan
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children, portrayed in their loathful actions toward Hester and Pearl. This marring of the

innocence and purity of a whole generation of children who possess the ability to do good is a

horrendous action the Puritans achieve. These details Hawthorne incorporate into his writing

imply his opinions, but it is his tone that discloses explicitly the true extent of his frustration.

Hawthorne’s impassioned tone discussing the destruction that Puritan beliefs cause in the

lives of their victims divulge the intensity of his feelings. During Dimmesdale’s secret and

tormented night on the town scaffold used for Hester’s public shaming, Hawthorne questions,

“Poor miserable man! What right had infirmity like his to burden itself with crime” (122). His

indignation over the difficult burden forced upon Dimmesdale’s immensely fragile spirit

emphasizes the amount of miserable strain Dimmesdale is under not to confess and free himself

from guilt. This fear of judgement holding him back from confession is justified by the

uncompromising severity of the Puritans, a powerful force Hawthorne loathes because of the

agony it causes in good men like Dimmesdale. In order to purify himself of these sins of adultery

and falsehood, Dimmesdale participates in excruciating vigils at night creating visions of his

mother, “turning her face away [from him] as she passed by” an idea so repugnant to Hawthorne

that he comments, “Ghost of a mother - thinnest fantasy of a mother - methinks she might yet

have thrown a pitying glance towards her son” (121). Unable to conceive how a mother lacks the

love and affection to pity her son’s anguished struggles, a trait he believes even the least of

mothers should possess, Hawthorne reveals his shock at the harshness of the Puritans to turn a

mother against her own son. The Puritans’ ability to desecrate what it means to be a mother

through their abject intolerance of any type of sin is something Hawthorne finds horrific,

compelling sympathy for Dimmesdale. By utilizing this impassioned tone in combination with
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contrasting images, Hawthorne further describes and develops an image of the severity of Puritan

heartlessness.

Because of the vast differences between these contrasting images, Hawthorne’s message

against the flawed beliefs of the Puritans that so cruelly affect Hester’s life are enhanced.

Throughout the course of seven years, Hester’s image among the Puritans shifts from one of

infamy to sacredness, but despite their attempts to treat her normally Hester, “never raised her

head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute… she laid her finger on the scarlet letter”

which is a punishment to publically display her sin of adultery (134). These images depict the

vast disparity between the community’s acceptance of Hester and Hester’s refusal of herself

through her continued reminders of her scarlet letter to the rest of the townspeople. The

intolerance instilled in Hester because of her life in a Puritan town explains her inability to ever

forgive herself and illustrates the irreversible damage on her mindset that prevents her personal

reconciliation. Her selfless kindness towards others is contradicted greatly by the actions of the

poor she care for who, “often reviled the hand that was stretched forth to succor them” (71). In

spite of her compassion, the poor who were brought up with the strict and unmerciful morals of

the Puritans possess no sympathy towards the one person who deserves their thanks and

admiration. Rather than choosing to love in return, the Puritan values of that time call upon them

to do the opposite and condemn. All of these actions highlight the hypocrisy of the Puritan style

of religion that embrace animosity and resentment while looking down upon love and

forgiveness.

A combination of the details of the impact of Puritan society on future generations, the

impassioned tone Hawthorne writes, and contrasting images exposing the hypocritical ideals of

the Puritans reveal the irreparable damage intolerance leaves on people. Hawthorne denounces a
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community guided by hatred by demonstrating the misery it causes and warns the world against

following similar morals.