FORGIVENESS- throughout the book, Dimmesdale suffers with guilt because he knows he has done a sin. Dimmesdale was a Puritan pastor and his religion denies the possibility of forgiveness for the sin he committed. This belief leads Dimmesdale to initially deny his sin and hide the truth from his townspeople.

 JUDGEMENT- Chillingworth spends much of his days demanding justice and punishment from his wife adulterer. He believes in personal revenge against Dimmesdale and spends several years punishing him in private. Dimmesdale is also punished with guilt and fear regarding his judgment.

 ROMANTIC VIEW OF LIFE- Dimmesdale has a very romantic view of life. Despite his faith, he eventually gives in to his romantic desires to be with the woman he loves. The book’s Puritan outlook on life views human desires as sinful and meant to be conquered. Hester's affair confirms the town’s way of thinking and they humiliate her on the scaffold for her adultery. The scarlet letter she wears symbolizes the town’s rejection of romantic desires.

 REPENTANCE AND PENITENCE- Dimmesdale spent most of his life seeking repentance for his sin. The town punishes Hester for her sin, with humiliation by making her wear the letter "A". When Chillingworth discovered the "A" on Dimmesdale, it proved, to the readers Dimmesdale's desire for his own personal penitence.

When Dimmesdale met Pearl and Hester at night, she asked him to appear with her and her mother in the daytime. She says, "but wilt thou promise..to take my hand, and my mother's hand to-morrow noontide" (196). The readers understand Dimmesdale's refusal to meet in the daytime as relating to his fear of exposing his secret to the public. When it is dark,at night, secrets can best be kept. That is why there is more violence and crime at night. "Day" represents the truth, because everything is opened for all to see. Dimmesdale himself said "Not then, Pearl...but another time..at the great judgement day"(196). This statement is significant to the readers showing that Dimmesdale does not plan to reveal his secret until after he is dead. He will then be forced to give a full confession of his sin.

In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the setting of the story begins in with Hester coming out of jail to the market place, "The glass plot before the jail, in prison lane, on a certain summer morning, not less than two centuries ago was occupied by pretty large number of the inhabitants of Boston;all with their eyes intently fastened on the iron clamped open tree(Hawthorne,43)." Everyone is crowded in the market place to watch Hester Prynne come out of the prison door. “A crowd of eager and curious school-boys, understanding little of the matter in hand..ran before her progress, turning their heads continually to stare into her face (Hawthorne, 52)".The market place is a place where people get publicly humiliated. People are coming to the market place to watch Hester Prynne in humiliation. After the marketplace, the magistrates sent her to her home on the outskirts of the town, "on the outskirts of the town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a small thatched cottage. (Hawthorne,69)" She lived on the outskirts of town because the town didn't want to have anything to do with her but she was in the town because they must watch over her. Puritans care about their religion and community. If someone had other beliefs, they would have been persecuted. The Puritan community is designed to be religiously pure, which means they had to be very strict. This reminds me of my community, when a scandal happens in this community, everyone talks about with their families on their Friday night dinner table.

Hester and Pearl standing on the scaffold alone.

Hester and Pearl coming our of the prison door.