Beenish Ali, Britt LeGwen

Ms. Smit
12 AP English
9 January 2015
The Relief of Sin:
A Synthesis Paper Synthesizing Confidence by Anne Bronte and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel
Hawthorne
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts the tale of two young sinners whom have
misbehaved and created a child together while they were unmarried. During the time in which
this novel takes place it was quite unacceptable to have a child out of wedlock, especially in the
puritan society that Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale reside. As punishment Hester is
forced to wear a red A branding her as an adulteress. She refuses to name Dimmesdale as the
father to save him from repudiation. As a result she is forced to live with constant reminder of
her sin while Dimmesdale has to live with the constant guilt of not being named. In Confidence
by Anne Bronte, the narrator struggles with the guilt of sin but is relieved after she realizes that
God will forgive her. Both of these two works display the guilt and oppression of sin and how
this can be overcome by the belief of Gods grace.
In The Scarlet Letter, both Hester and Dimmesdale feel great remorse and burdensome
guilt over their past sins. Hester feels as if her A burn[s] into [her] bosom ( Hawthorne 206).

Dimmesdale felt the need to take a bloody scourge to his own shoulders; laughing bitterly at
himself the while because he could not deal with his sins and felt the need to be punished (150).
Because Dimmesdale was not punished by the state with Hester, he punished himself with a
whip. Both of these characters were worn down by their sins and became depressed and lifeless.
Their only thoughts were of their sins and they were always conscious of how others regarded
them. They could not relieve themselves of the torment of [the] seven years from the time they
committed their sin to when the novel takes place (202). Both of these characters are weighted
down by their sin and cannot break free. Their guilt holds them back and keeps them from
gaining happiness.
This parallel to Brontes poem Confidence. The narrator is oppressed with sin and
woe and bears a burdened heart (Bronte). She feels as if [she is] weak/ and prone to every
sin (Bronte). She is afraid of committing another sin and adding to her list of mistakes. In both
the novel and the poem, the characters/ narrator are constantly conscious of their sins and are
confused as to how to break free of them. They see the potential for new sin everywhere they go
and try to better themselves so as to redeem themselves.
As both the novel and the poem progress, the characters/ narrators come to confess and
accept their sins. In The Scarlet Letter when Hester and Dimmesdale were burned by their sins
Pearl, their daughter, remarks to Hester that the sunshine does not love [her]. It runs away and
hides itself, because it is afraid of something on [her] bosom (192). Throughout the whole novel
there are references to the sunshine and how it follows the pure Pearl around and hides from the
sinful Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the woods one day and decide
to run away to a place where the are free from their sins. They both feel as if they have paid the

price and should be forgiven but cannot move past the views of others. Once this decision is
made, Hester throws her A into the woods and is free. At the moment, as with a sudden smile
of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest (214). Once
Hester and Dimmesdale realize that their sins have been paid for and accept them, the sun returns
to them and they are freed. Dimmesdale, who has never publicly confessed to his sins, must do
so to fully accept them. The night before he is to give a speech in front of the populace, he
writes down his confession to tell the people. He falls asleep doing so and as morning came
and peeped, blushing, through the curtains; and at last sunrise threw a golden beam into the study
and laid it right across the ministers bedazzled eyes (236). Once Dimmesdale, the minister,
confessed to his sins, he fully recognized them and accepted them. As he did so, the sun shone
its blessing on him and its approval.
This revelation also occurs in Brontes poem. The narrator decides that she will not
despair because she knows that God with give [her] strength within and that He let[s] [His]
holy spirit shine/ For ever on [her] heart (Bronte). Once again, the acceptance and confession
of sin are represented by light shining. The narrator in Brontes poem realizes that her sins are
forgiven. Once she realizes that they are not damning, she accepts them. Once the characters/
narrator in the novel and poem accept their sins, they are freed from them. They have all atoned
for their sins, through punishment or prayer, and now are free to reside in the sunshine.
Once both the characters and the narrator realized and confessed their sins, they received
the Grace of God. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale becomes very weak from the guilt over his
sins to such an extent that he can never recover. Right before he dies after he confesses, he
responds to Hesters question, Shall we not spend our immortal life together by saying that

God knows; and He is merciful! (269). Dimmesdale and Hester realized that God knows the
guilt they have suffered through and their attempts at redemption and that He will forgive them
because he is merciful. This mercy is His Grace. This Grace and forgiveness relieves them of
their sins. In Brontes poem, the narrator is happy once she realizes that God will forgive her
sins. She only realizes this after she accepts her sins as such and realizes she was wrong. She
knows that she is unworthy but that God will cherish [her] anyways because of His Grace.
In both the novel and the poem, the characters/ narrator are freed from their sins by Gods Grace
but only after they confess and acknowledge them.
Both, the novel The Scarlet Letter and the poem Confidence, display the guilt and
oppression of sin and how this can be overcome by the belief of Gods grace. These works
illuminate the characters idea of not being able to stay away from bad and being a sinner for as
long as they live. But as both works progress, the characters learn to accept and overcome their
sins. They are only able to overcome these sins by not focusing on what others think, but
believing in Gods grace. Gods grace ultimately helps the characters find purity within
themselves.