by Nathaniel
Hawthorne
(Themes - Sin)
Sin and knowledge are linked in the
Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve, who
were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil. As a result of their knowledge, Adam and Eve are made aware of their
disobedience, which separates them from the divine and from other creatures.
Once expelled from the Garden of Eden, they are forced to toil and to procreate
– two “labors” that seem to define the human condition. The experience of
Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases,
sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge –
specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the
scarlet letter functions as “her passport into regions where other women dared
not tread,” leading her to “speculate” about her society and herself more
“boldly” than anyone else in New England.
As
for Dimmesdale, the “cheating minister” of his sin gives him “sympathies so
intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his chest vibrates in
unison with theirs.” His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense
of empathy. The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping
with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His
“Fall” is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to
begin in purity. He ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister is
his own deceiver, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage
that he is saved.
The
rosebush, its beauty a striking contrast to all that surrounds it – as later
the beautifully embroidered scarlet ‘A’ will be – is held out in part as an
invitation to find “some sweet moral blossom” in the ensuing, tragic tale and
in part as an image that “the deep heart of nature” (perhaps God) may look
kindlier on the errant Hester and her child (the roses among the weeds) than
her Puritan neighbors do. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with
the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems.
Chillingworth’s
misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the evil in his soul, which builds as
the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale’s illness reveals his inner
turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart.
Although
Pearl is a complex character, her primary function within the novel is as a
symbol. Pearl herself is the embodiment of the scarlet letter, and Hester
rightly clothes her in a beautiful dress of scarlet, embroidered with gold
thread, just like the scarlet letter upon Hester’s bosom. Parallels can be
drawn between Pearl and the character Beatrice in Rappaccini’s Daughter. Both
are studies in the same direction, though from different standpoints. Beatrice
is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she herself becomes poisonous. Pearl,
in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents’ guilt.
The
difference between Hester’s awareness of her sin and Dimmesdale’s awareness of
his sin is due to the fact that though Hester is a woman, she is firm and
courageous while Dimmesdale is a man, he is timid and weak-willed. Perhaps
Dimmesdale’s mortified awareness of his sin is either due to his position as a
religious minister or due to his intellectual superiority over Hester. Hester,
on the other hand, is a common woman- proud, dignified, sensitive but bold. Her
public censure at the beginning of the book has also perhaps lessoned her
strong and morbid feeling of guilt that a secret sinner like Dimmesdale might
have. Her public acceptance of sin is also not without benefit- people permit
her to move much more freely. Pearl’s presence also saves her from a drastic
course of rebellion against society. She does suffer from people’s stares and
the exposure that the scarlet letter and Pearl enforce upon her, as also from
the Puritan children’s jeers. Yet, she manages to find a way around her
suffering and to convert it into a kind of triumph by her good deeds and
humility. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is found constantly shut up in his
room or surrounded by his congregation, so that he is passive, as opposed to
Hester’s active life. He lacerates and tortures himself because he hates himself
for his secret sin. He makes half-hearted attempts to confess his sin but
without success. He is frail and tremulous which, is a feminine quality in
direct opposition to Hester’s activism which is masculine in character. His
temperament is also of feminine nature. He wants to leave the settlement only
after he has delivered his Election sermon, that is, in a blaze of glory.
Whereas Hester’s activism leads to her improving status in the community,
Dimmesdale, who is a hypocrite and a coward, achieves salvation with his dying
confession and changed behaviour at the end of the story. Both find their own
regeneration out of a common sin- Hester as a heroic figure, Dimmesdale as a
religious figure.
Hawthorne’s
ambiguity prevents us from reaching any single conclusion as to where his own sympathy
does lay. In fact, there is a suggestion in The Scarlet Letter that Hester is a
devil (chapter XVI where she is related to The Black Man and chapter XVII where
she meets Dimmesdale in the forest and makes a ‘pact’ with him as the ‘Black
Man’ is assumed to do with his followers) and that Dimmesdale is a masochist
who inflicts deliberate punishment upon himself. Hester’s duplicity is
mentioned in chapter XXI as also Dimmesdale’s cowardice and hypocrisy are
mentioned again and again. On this evidence in the text, we can say that Hawthorne
himself accepted the evaluation of the Boston Puritans.
Both
Hester and Dimmesdale are sinners, and although each of them has a few,
admirable traits, we must never forget their sin, even after their death which
may end but not relieve their tragedy. That is why the symbol on the tombstone
shows a dark background with only a spot of red on it. Red (passion) may shine
brightly against the dark (repressive Puritan) background but it is a sin, it
is to be condemned.
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