The Effects of Sin on Hester Prynne Nathaniel Hawthorne believed his task was to analyze the effects of sin, whether thought or committed, on the human heart and mind. Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, deals with many themes, the most powerful being sin. In this novel, Hester Prynne becomes a highly respected person in a Puritan society by overcoming a constant reminder of her sin, a Scarlet letter A which she wears on her chest at …showed first 75 words of 660 total…

…showed last 75 words of 660 total…was her passport into regions where other women dared not treat. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong." At the end of the novel Hester emerges from her experiences and is revealed to be a woman capable of helping others and being respected by them. She has the happiness that comes of being at peace with oneself, one's fellow men, and with one's God.