Hawthornes Portrayals

Hawthorne’s Portryals In the opening chapters of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne provides a detailed description of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. The reader is able to look into the souls of these characters and learn of their deepest feelings. Along with this Hawthorne uses the townspeople’s reactions to show how the characters are portrayed amongst them. Every person has their good qualities and their poor qualities. The representation of these characters …

…a mistake, by committing adultery, but he was by no means a terrible person. Through Hawthorne’s detailed descriptions of the characters and the reactions of others towards them, the reader can see into their souls and learn their true identity. Hawthorne displays the characters weaknesses’ but he does not let them overshadow the positive qualities that they possess. Everyone has reasons for their actions, whether it is selfish or out of compassion towards others.