Scarlet Letter, Sin in

It is often taught that the worst part of sin is not the sin itself but rather the effects of that sin on not only the sinner but also all the people around the sinner. That is why the important lesson in The Scarlet Letter is not about the sin committed by Hester Prynne and the Reverend Master Dimmesdale but more importantly about the way the sin effects, not just Hester Prynne and the Reverend …

…greatest sinner. After all he was as guilty as Hester Prynne in the sin but yet he still had the nerve to vigorously interrogate her in public at the scaffold pleading with her to name the man, when he knew well that she could not and would not tell who he was. Futher more he would not confess for the rest of his life to the sin leaving Hester Prynne to suffer the guilt alone.