Scarlet Letter 4

A critic, Edward Wagenknecht explains that the scarlet letter upon Hester's breast in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter "had not done its office." This means that the actions of the magistrates punishing Hester for her sin is like usurping God's power, and the scarlet letter keeps Hester from living a miserable, guilty life such as the one led by Dimmesdale. Hester openly shows her scarlet letter and the sin she commits and as a result, …

…shudder, suddenly and unawares. Sooner or later, he must needs be mine!"(70) In the end, Chillingworth dies and Hawthorne shows that punishment of sin must not be carried out by man and as a crime but sinners only can be punished by God. Wagenknecht supports Hawthorne on this theme and it shows how the scarlet letter "had not done its office" to Hester but on the other hand, Dimmesdale, has this sin burning inside him.