Who Do the Puritan’s Want You to Be?

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Nathaniel Hawthorne continues his criticism towards the Puritan society as he writes about the burial of Hester and Dimmesdale. The Puritan Society does develop some respect for Hester as she dies but still not as much as the respect that they have for the saint that they have created. The Puritans allowed the two lovers to share one tombstone, but there was “… a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle” (Hawthorne 258). Although there was a bit of respect gained for Hester, the community did not want her to be touching the godly figure that they all loved. Even after death, the false identities of the two main characters live on. Dimmesdale continues to be the saintly figure in the community even after the society gains knowledge of his adultery crime. Hester will forever be remembered by the letter “A”, but after her death the letter will have a different meaning. Puritans decide to swap the meaning from “Adultery” to “Able”. This continues he tension in the relationship between the society and the individual because the Puritan’s continue to make people seem how they want them to be.

Exposing the different identities that the Puritan society creates for characters contributes to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s view on the relationship between society and the individual. His criticism leans on the fact that the society is quick to judge while creating identities that seem a good fit for how characters are viewed by the Puritans. While creating these foe identities, the Puritans attach these characters to symbols of their choice. The way Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne were treated throughout the novel shows readers the ideas of the Puritan society as Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolically shares his critical views on the Puritan religion as a whole.