P5+JHellmich

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, //The Scarlet Letter//, there is a story of many flawed characters and their lives in society. To show the lives of these people, Hawthorne uses a cycle of transgression, shame, repentance, and acceptance. There are major areas in this book that include religion, government and politics, science, and individualism. Religion is a main point because the main characters, who are puritans, believe in God but they have commited a terrible sin and must repent and come back to society.

The story begins with Hester Prynne standing on a podium in the market-place being judged and mocked by her peers. She has a scarlet "A" on her chest. The reader realizes that the baby Hester is holding came out of wedlock, and the "A" stands for adultress. In the puritan community this is one of the worst sins anyone can commit. As they judge her and try to find out who the father is as well as try to punish her, they forget that she has already paid the price of her sin. Sha has a baby that she must now raise on her own. Hester goes through her transgression and shame in the first few chapters. She's broken the ten commandments and now she must repent.

The repentance process is very hard for some. Hester is strong and she got on with her life. She had Pearl, who was her visible sin, and she had the scarlet "A" on her to show everyone what she had done. Dimmesdale on the other hand had a much harder time repenting. While Dimmesdale was the pastor in the community and supposedly closest to God, it is hard to believe that he is the father of baby Pearl. While everyone knows what Hester has done, no one knows Dimmsedale is the other half to the equation. The guilt on his shoulders tears away his insides. He can hardly live with himself knowing what he has done. It doesn't help either have Chillingworth, Hester's husband, torturing him. Once Dimmesdale finally confesses, he dies. It was too much for him to handle. He could not accept what he had done.

Hester accepted her actions by raising Pearl to the best of her ability. She never removed the scarlet "A" either which is a symbol of strong will and acceptance. Hester even got a job and did good works in the community. She is only accepted back into the community when she is no longer a danger. People see that she has changed and gone on with her life so they decide to forgive and forget. In Christian faith, it is your duty to forgive anyone who apologizes and is on their way to repentance. It is God's choice to forgive and judge as he will. People should not judge others. They just need to get on with their lives.

The process from transgression to acceptance can take a long time and a lot of personal control and understanding, In //The Scarlet Letter// we witnessed how two people transgessed together, their shame, how each of them repented, and then how they came to accept it in the end. Both of them being religious people, overcame their sins and straightened things out in the end. Hawthorne used religion in every step his characters took to find peace.