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With a language uncommon to the frequent easy-read of today, Nathaniel Hawthorne weaves a romance that is simple in its basic plot, but intricately complex in its revelation of the hidden and suppressed stirrings of the human soul as it copes with the transgression of accepted morality, and similarly complex in the revelation of the interpersonal dynamics of revenge and its downfall – a downfall that comes in the affront of an acquiescence to the shame of that transgression, and of human honesty, albeit an honesty that sought the silencing of the oppressive haunts of guilt. Set in the Puritanical community of early America, The Scarlet Letter conveys a message of doom for the transgressor. With shame and solitude her constant companions, Hester Prynne lives on the fringes of that community, their taunts and overt piety hideous reminders of her sin. Not that she needed vocal reminders, for she bore a glimmering and pronounced singular letter on her garment that spoke volumes in her behalf, as did the child of her sin, who grew in the shadows beside her. But her sin could not have been committed in solitude, and yet the one who shared in her sin, shared the horror of remorse in a different solitude, one that heard the praises of the community, while guilt and shame wrecked havoc within the silence of his person. For now, we will set aside the lessons of revenge, and consider only the subject of sin and its consequences.
In a moment of passion, Hester and the object of her affection, Arthur Dimmesdale, forsook the restraints and the teachings that had been theirs. For Hester, her sin was all the greater for she was a woman, and for Arthur, the magnitude of his sin stood in stark contrast to his calling as a minister. Sexual sin for a woman, especially a believer in today’s Christian community, still often immerses that woman in a lingering guilt. In my re-reading of Hawthorne’s story, I was grateful that the church as a whole, now has a far more Christ-like attitude in addressing sexual sin. As Jesus responded to women in the New Testament stories, sexual sin should rightly be labeled as "sin," but love, and forgiveness, and acceptance should fully embrace the one who has sinned. Biblically, that is God’s response, and it should be ours, as well. For Hester though, she seemed to rise above her sin in some ways, but she never experienced the freedom that comes from the certainty of God’s love and forgiveness – gifts God would have given just as quickly to her as He does to women today.
For the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, his silence in the face of his sin, was a prison of unrelenting torture. And in that, for us as believers today, nothing has changed. Society may be more accepting of our sin, but for the one who recognizes that our God of love is still a God of holiness, sin that is ignored, denied, minimized, or justified, will reap its consequences. Silence never adequately responds to sin. God offers a forgiveness that knows no boundaries except one – He desires for us to acknowledge our sin. Having acknowledged sin, His gifts of love and forgiveness are lavished upon us because the greater gift of His Son has already been given.
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