Sin and Redemption in the Research Proposal

Interestingly, his daughter Pearl is also the physical manifestation -- or at least the most incarnate presence -- of his redemption. It is after she kisses him that he dies, in a strange reversal where the sin, i.e. Pearl, shows her acceptance of the sinner, and the understanding this imparts to Dimmesdale frees his soul. It is not quite the happy redemptive ending the reader might feel he deserves, but after his years of torment it might actually be the biggest reward he could ask for.

Hawthorne uses Chillingsworth, too, to show another aspect of the relationship between sin, acceptance, and redemption. Chillingsworth ever even admits to himself that he has sinned -- he lives his life seeking only revenge, which is to say he lives his life only in the purpose of sin. When this purpose is thwarted by Dimmesdale's public confession and death, Chillingsworth quickly withers away and is himself dead within a year. Of the three major characters in the novel, he is the only one who does not receive redemption in life. It is possible, however, that Pearl serves as his redemption in death, too -- by leaving her the property and money in his will, despite the fact that he knows she is the product of his wife's adultery, it is perhaps a signal that he has forgiven Hester and acknowledged his own fault in the circumstances dealt with in the book.Hawthorne's insight into human nature is extraordinary. He deals with complex issues of sin and redemption not by theologically philosophizing or having his characters discuss these concepts outright, but instead through the psychological inner lives of these character he reveals their effects on the human experience. In the end, he concludes that acceptance is the only way to redeem oneself from sin and….....