The Scarlet Letter 2 Essay, Research Paper

Applying Universal Themes from the Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter involves quite a few themes that can be related to today including: playing the role of God, sin, and guilt. People continue to play the role of God throughout our society, just as thwey did in the 17th century in Bostin, Massachusetts. Society declined on their morales, and haave lessened the definition of sin. Guilt was and is a major theme in our world, and more thatn likely will continuie to be a major part of out world. The Scarlet Letter has so many themes, and the individual theme are placed just right, which makes the novel superior.

In The Scarlet Letter many people attempted to play the role of God, and so do people today. An example in The Scarlet Letter of the townspeople playing the role of God is when they cast judgment upon a situatuation that they weren’t at, and really have no first hand knowledge about. A relation to this type of role playing in our world today is right her in the United States. There are so many citizens who can’t “forgive” the President of the United States. Instead some of the United States would rather attempt to make themselves superior by casting judgement amongst the President. There should be one role player for God… God himself.

It seems that society is declining the United States for our overall moral, and our shady definition of sin. It seems that man has sinned so many times, it’s almost hard to tell what’s right and wrong anymore. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and her beloved Arthur Dimmesdale both break one of the Ten Commandments, thall shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife. Hester who was known that she was an adultrist, and from the begining of the book she is scorned by the townspeople. She is riddiculed for being an adultrist. Yet in the late 20th century, if a man or woman is found to be an adultrist, it’s accepted, because it’s considered common. Times certainly have changed, and it surely seems not for the best.

Both The Scarlet Letter and in the world today, guilt plays a big factor. In the book Dimmesdale allows guilt to force him to admit to his affair with Hester. Guilt hasn’t changed over time, it still has it’s way to corrode any man’s yearning conscience. A man with a good conscience, generally turns themselve in after commiting any crime, due to the guilt. It’s a damn good thing that we experience guilt, otherwise our world would be deplorable to live in.

The Scarlet Letter seems to be a mirror image of our world today. People are as kind today as they were back then. People are just as much, if not more hypocritical today. If humans were intelligent enough, we would change our sinful behavior, and be kinder to one another. Until then we can continue to wear our own self- inflicted Scarlet Letter.