Scarlet Letter/Sin of A Guilty Heart

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A 3 page essay that discusses the nature of sin in Hawthorne's most famous work. Hester's punishment for adultery--the wearing of the scarlet letter that symbolizes her ostracism from Puritan society--constitutes a principle feature of the narrative. However, beyond this surface meaning of sin equaling adultery, there is a deeper interpretation that indicates Hawthorne's perspective on the nature of sin, which shows that the greatest sin portrayed in the novel is one of a guilty heart, of not accepting responsibility for one's misdeeds. Bibliography lists 2 sources.