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The Guilt Ridden Man: Guilt’s Effect on Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter
The fresco painting, The Fall and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, created by Michelangelo and painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, depicts the biblical story of Adam and Eve and their sin against God, due to the temptation in the form of a forbidden apple tree known for granting knowledge. The painting presents the viewer with the story all in one piece. On the right side, Adam and Eve are living in a plentiful environment. They reach out towards the middle of the painting where the tree of knowledge is rooted. On the tree sits a man with the lower body of a snake. This man representing Satan himself, holds out an apple from the tree, tempting the two to go against God and take a bite each. As the story goes, they do exactly that. First the fall of Eve closely followed by Adam. The left side then shows them sulking away from the tree and now surrounded by a more barren and somber environment being expelled from The Garden of Eden and onto Earth. This painting as a whole depicts the first sin of men. The end result being shame and regret as evident from their faces on the left side of the painting. All coming from the sin they chose to take part of together. The story of these two sinners and their fate has been told throughout many years including other visions of the story. However, the story isnt so much about the sin but the outcome of it. Another instance where sin and its effect on humans can be seen is in The Scarlet Letter. The writer of The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne, uses the characters in the book to allude to the conclusion that sin is horrible due to its power to destroy a person.
Hesters guilt shackles her to stay in the town that has condemned her to wear a scarlet letter for what she committed. She feels as if she needs to repent her sin that she is constantly reminded of due to the letter and her daughter Pearl. She has every opportunity to leave all of her past behind and move on to life somewhere where no one will know of her past mistakes. But as Hawthorne states, The chain that bound her here was of iron links, and galling to her inmost soul, but could never be broken (77). One can assume that the iron links are the guilt chaining her to the town that has doomed her. Therefore, sabotaging her chance for a better future.
Hesters denial to rid the scarlet letter from her bosom when the town gave her the opportunity, revealed that she views the scarlet letter as a reminder to herself of the guilt she wants to repent herself of. One can see this when she chooses to take the scarlet letter off in the forest with Mr. Dimmesdale. Hawthore writes, The Stigma gone, Hester heaved a long sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. (199). Afterward, Pearl refuses to see her as her mother without the scarlet letter. Pearls persistence for Hester to put the scarlet letter back on after taking it off in the woods with Mr. Dimmesdale shows that the scarlet letter that is meant to be a reminder to herself of the things she has committed and therefore a permanent showcase of her guilt.
As the years pass, Dimmesdale’s health plummets. This can be connected to the worsening of guilt toward his actions to hide the truth and leave Hester alone in her missionary. An example that reveals that his guilt is slowing him down, is when he runs back home after the therapeutic encounter with Hester. While running through the forest, Hawthore writes, He could not but recall how feebly, and with what frequent pauses for breath, he had toiled over the same ground only two days before (212). Hawthore writes this to show the difference between the before and after of his encounter and talk with Hester, lifting his guilt from his shoulders.
The relationship of Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth can be seen as another instance where guilt is used to destroy a man. Chillingworths only reason to be close to Dimmesdale is to make his life more miserable than it was on its own. After Chillingworth finds out that Dimmesdale is in fact the father of Pearl, Hawthore writes, All that guilty sorrow & to be lavished on the very man to whom nothing else could so adequately pay the debt of vengeance (136). Chillingworth is able to recognize the power guilt has over Dimmesdale and is able to use that knowledge to worsen his state of mind and make him repay what he has done to him.
One of the more salient examples to show that guilt can destroy a man is when Mr. Dimmesdale himself confesses his pain to Hester when they are conversing in the forest. He complained to Hester that he has regretted the choice to live a life in secrecy under the watchful eyes of the Puritan society. When asked by Hester is he had found peace, he goes to say, None! -nothing but despair! & Hester, I am most miserable! (187). He continues to say even with the parise from his parishioners he is unable to shake the weight of guilt from his back that had held residence there for the past seven years. This resulted in his dismay and pain.
Another example of an author who writes about the destruction from guilt is Angie Thomas in the book The Hate U Give. Thomas presents many examples where characters are grieving over their guilt and one of the examples include the main character Starr. Starr is raised in a black neighborhood while being schooled in a white school in a richer town. When faced with the death of her friend, she is left to choose whether to join the protest against the police brutality in exchange for her safety and image a school or to stand by and watch. For the beginning of the book she chooses to stay out of the protest. Then in turn making her feel guilty for betraying her own friend and letting his image be ruined. One instance where she particularly feels guilty is when she hangs out with her white boyfriend, Chris. As she holds his hands, she beings to see the scene of her friend’s death and starts to compare them, A cop as white as Chris points a gun at me. As white as Chris. I flinch and snatch away (Thomas 85). Through this, one is able to see the impact of the hidden guilt of her choice to stand back in the protest. She is constantly reminded of the horrid moment and it starts to affect her everyday life; consuming her.
As seen through the artwork of Michelangelo and the novels The Scarlet Letter and the Hate U Give. guilt can be a prominent cause to a person’s fall from normalcy and into a dreadful state of mind. In the end, guilt might be seen as something horrible and dangerous to obtain but in retrospect guilt can also be seen as something to keep people human.
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