Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter explains what sin is and what you get as a result of a sin. As Puritans, these people were raised in a very strict and religious background. They know that if they commit any type of sin not only with they be punished by God, but they will also be criticized and looked upon differently by society. Sin is an immoral act that is against divine law. The story illustrates the word sin because a character in the book named Hester Prynne committed adultery, a sin. Hawthorne explains her struggle and in a way is very sympathetic towards Hester. Hawthorne’s point of view on sin is that we were born with original sin but we have the choice to either commit sins or not.
We often criticize others when they sin but we still tend to do wrong. In chapter three Hawthorne said "If thou feelest it to be for thy soul's peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!"He is saying that when you sin, you are too suffer. “Small” sin is often overlooked by society. For example if someone lied, they sinned but no one punishes them for it. Meanwhile if someone kills someone, they get punished to death. Hester committed a sin and was humiliated while others around committed sins every day. This isn’t right because if someone is going to be punished for a big sin then someone who commits a little sin should be punished as well
Although some sin is greater than others, we don’t have the right to put someone down because you feel the sin you committed isn’t as serious. In chapter 15 Hester said "Be it sin or no,", as she still gazed after him, "I hate the man!”…"Yes, I hate him!" repeated Hester, more bitterly than before. "He betrayed me! He has done me worse wrong than I did him!" Hester’s point is that she feels like she shouldn’t be executed as hard as Dimmesdale because he committed the