The Scarlet Letter 7

The virtue of truth and the evil of secret sin are clearly illustrated in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The three main characters in this novel display their own honesty and sins. Hester Prynne exhibits the essence of truth and pride when she bravely faces the humiliation of the scaffold. In chapter 17, when Hester apologizes to Dimmesdale about concealing Chillingworth’s identity, she says, “In all things else, I have striven …

…he says, “Dost thou remember me? Was I not, though you might deem me cold, nevertheless a man thoughtful for others, craving little for himself, -kind, true, just, and of constant, if not warm affections? Was I not all this (pg. 180)?” As shown in the novel, each individual character displayed both senses of truth and evil. Some were less severe than others, but still sins. Overall, a lesson of purity is developed throughout the book.