In Adam"s fall, we sinned all." This old Sunday-school saying applies well to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s characters in The Scarlet Letter. The main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, as well as the townspeople, all sinned. The story is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon. Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. …showed first 75 words of 2067 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2067 total…the story was Pearl. Pearl is the embodiment of her parents’ sin. She is the incarnate of the letter "A" on Hester’s chest. Pearl also is Hester’s constant reminder that she has committed a great sin. Pearl almost seemed inhuman until the end of the novel. Lastly, I feel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is an almost historical novel of the Puritan society, and its conviction of sin, in his view and research.