“In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” This idea is the root by which all children of Puritan faith learned where they stood in the eyes of their God. They discovered very young that they were unworthy of the Grace of God. If they were to be saved it would only be if God predetermined their fate. This led them to the belief that they must resist sin and temptation in their everyday lives to …showed first 75 words of 975 total…

…showed last 75 words of 975 total…other choice. He has nothing to look forward to, having condemned himself so young in life. Hawthorne’s assertion is that this confusion is the only possible outcome of Puritan belief. To mistrust yourself, others, and your own thoughts cannot create a stable faith. Hawthorne illustrates that the consequences for the mistrust and self-doubt, that is inherent in the Puritan ways, does not create faith. It creates only further mystification in an already confusing world. .