The human mind is a powerful force and often works in unexplainable and mysterious ways. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this through the lives and actions of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale; three characters in a Puritan society who are affected by the sin of adultery. Each character gives a perspective of how the beliefs of the human mind control one’s body and quality of life.Hester is the woman found guilty of committing adultery, and as punishment, is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest. Hester believes that she has sinned, and thinks that she can redeem herself by doing good in the Puritan community. She is constantly reminded of her sin by her daughter, Pearl, who asks endless questions about the scarlet letter, yet Hester remains a strong role model to her. With Hester’s positive attitude and by living her life the ways she is, “many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said it meant Able,; so strong was Hester Prynne” (page 148). Hester is ‘Able’ because she is a single mother raising a daughter, is skillful ay sewing, and also is considerate by giving money to the poor even though she does not have much herself. At one point during a brief period of happiness in the woods, Hester tears off the scarlet letter from her bosom, and removes her hair cap. Suddenly, her mind is free of the burdens she has endured, and she is physically beautiful again. In this short time, where she is happy and her mind is set free, her body also changes and the beauty she once had reappears. Roger Chillingworth was once a kind-hearted man, and is also Hester’s husband, although no one else is aware of this. When he discovers that the father of Hester’s child is Dimmesdale, he slowly changes from a good, trustworthy man to an evil parasite possessed with revenge. His overwhelming jealously causes ...
