The Scarlet Letter

2 Pages 566 Words

It has once been said that “A truly memorable work will illuminate one of the great quests: for love, for truth, for honor, or for justice.” One work of literature that I feel truly does illuminate several of these great quests is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This work is based in a small, Puritan community where a woman named Hester Prynne dwells. This woman has committed the sin of adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom to constantly remind her and the rest of the community of her terrible sin. The fruit of this sin however was her little daughter Pearl; a strange, but gentle child. People in the community though, looked at her as an evil, elf-child, born from sin. In the meantime there was a priest named Arthur Dimmesdale who was secretly living in shame; for he was the father to little Pearl. His fatherhood was kept a secret for fear of jeopardizing his priesthood, so Hester took all the blame from the public. Although Hester had to face public humiliation, Mr. Dimmesdale suffered with the symbol of shame burned into his chest never to be revealed, and eating at his conscience. Little to the old priests knowledge, Roger Chillingworth, the doctor who was living at the church with him, turned out to be Hester’s ex husband who knew of his sin. The old doctor who had become one of Dimmesdale’s closest and most trusted friends was actually hurting him all along. One day Hester and Dimmesdale met in the woods and decided to run away and start a new life somewhere far away, but not until after his Electorial Sermon. The day came and he gave an incredible sermon which made everyone look at him like a saint, until he made the decision to expose his sin to the community. He called Hester and Pearl upon the platform where he delivered a delivered a dramatic final speech about the pain he went through and how the lord is very forgiving . He then stumbled upon the floor and died in Hester’s arms...