The Scarlet Letter The Conflicts and Themes

The Main Conflicts  Dimmesdale vs. Self  Hester vs. Self  Hester vs. Society  Hester vs. Chillingworth  Dimmesdale vs. Chillingworth  Hester vs. Pearl

Dimmesdale vs. Self  Struggled throughout the novel with his inner guilt and thoughts  This inner guilt was brought on by his sin of adultery which he had remained silent about for over seven years  Dimmesdale’s only form of relief from this inner guilt was through bringing harm to himself or his reputation  The main form of this was an “A” on his chest  Another form was placing himself out on the scaffold in the middle of town in the middle of the night

Hester vs. Self  Hester struggled continually with guilt throughout the novel  Hester believed that only God redeem her, thus causing her to isolate herself and repent  For this reason, Hester remained within the town of Boston and never removed the “A” on her own accord  She only overcame her internal conflicts when she fall back in love with Dimmesdale

Hester vs. Society  Society frowned upon Hester for her sin of adultery and refusal to provide the name of her fellow adulterer  This is shown when Hester was jailed for her sin and forced to wear the Scarlet letter until her death  Attempting to redeem herself, Hester did charity work throughout the novel  The townspeople gave her no gratification or thanks, and some continued to ridicule her or make a point of her  Even in during church services, they would use her as an example of what not to do  They also would not allow her to make bridal wear for fear that her sin would affect the pure brides that they were for

Hester vs. Chillingworth  The conflict between Hester and Chillingworth began in jail cell  Hester refused to tell Chillingworth her fellow adulterer’s name  Chillingworth forced Hester to swear to keep his true identity a secret  As Chillingworth tortured Dimmesdale, he was also in turn torturing Hester

Dimmesdale vs. Chillingworth  Throughout the novel, Chillingworth attempted to get his revenge on Dimmesdale due his suspicions of him  Chillingworth believed Dimmesdale to be the man that Hester had committed adultery with and thus wanted to punish him  Dimmesdale throughout the novel was disturbed by the presence of Chillingworth even without knowing Chillingworth’s true nature or motive

Hester vs. Pearl  Pearl was a symbol and constant physical reminder to Hester of the sin she had committed  Hester considers at one point getting rid of Pearl and herself to escape the pain and ridicule she was forced to endure in Boston because of her sin  Pearl would continuously tortured her mother over her letter “A”  Throughout the whole novel, she points it out to her mother, throws things at it, and makes her own “A”

Major Themes  The pursuit of revenge, rather than forgiveness, can turn an individual into an evil person they may not recognize  Individuals that confess their sins and work to redeem themselves lead a healthier existence  When individuals deny themselves opportunities to repent for their sins, their inner guilt can lead to their destruction  When societies react to sin punitively they act hypocritically and deny the universal truth that sin is natural