Originally Posted by
Stephanie
The Scarlet Letter is a little slow but if you get through all the "junk" and all the symblism it's a great book. The main theme of the book is sin and guilt. The theme of sin in guilt is the predominant theme in The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne is the main symbol of sin in the puritan society. She is marked by the “A”, for adulteress, to represent her wrongdoing to the townspeople. Moreover, Pearl is an even greater symbol of sin: she is the physical reminder of Hester’s sin. Some townspeople think of her as the devil child. The townspeople, at one point want to take away Pearl. They say that either way they would be doing good. Either they would take away Pear, the devil child, from Hester or they would take Pearl away from Hester, the sinner. Chillingworth also has sinful background. In the book, Hester and Dimmesdale even believe that he has the greater sin for deceiving Hester to marry him and then misleading the town of his background. Dimmesdale, however, committed the act of adultery with Hester and never came forward until the end. The character names even imply sin and guilt. Chillingworth’s name gives the impression of his cold heart. Dimmesdale’s name reminds the reader of dim, dark or weak. Prynne rhymes with sin showing her role in the book. And Pearl’s name “suggests a biblical symbolism device, ‘pearl of great price’ which means salvation.” Also in the Scarlet Letter, there are three scaffold scenes which all represent sin. The first scaffold scene is when Hester Prynne is accused of being an Adulteress. She has sinned. The scaffold scene represents committing a sin. The second scaffold scene is when Dimmesdale sits upon the scaffold during the night. He thinks of the sin that he has committed by not standing on the scaffold seven years ago when Hester was accused. The thoughts are so overbearing that he screams. The second scaffold scene represents public sin. The third and final scaffold scene is when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold and he calls for Hester and Pearl. He then reveals his sin and dies. The final scaffold scene represents revealing sin and repenting sin. The scaffold scenes are the main structures of the book and give the books its theme of sin and guilt.