The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne is often credited with chastising the Puritan faith in his works. However, in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s use of a Puritan setting highlights both the positive and negative effects of such a society on human abilities, sin, and purpose. The author recognized that man-made institutions serve as more than a social hierarchy or power hold; Hawthorne knew that Puritanism was a lifestyle that, despite its bad sides, provided a moral code essential to the people of the time, specifically the characters in the novel. Hawthorne does a thorough job of criticizing Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter by continually giving examples of Puritan values gone wrong. At the time, the fear of the devil was a driving force in society; this
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