Guilt and shame can tear a person's soul away. The inevitable consequence of sin is the immediate reaction of guilt, shame, and remorse. In each of the two works, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are characters who have committed a sin and feel guilty about it. For example: John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Reverend Dimmesdale have all committed a sin or sins and are feeling extremely guilty and remorseful about it. They are wanting to be forgiven, but they have no strength and are cowards. Forgiveness can be obtained if these characters find the strength within themselves to speak the truth.The first to commit a sin is John Proctor, ...view middle of the document...
She is a mother and ,of course, Elizabeth will be consumed with taking care of their children, cooking, cleaning, etc. At first, Elizabeth does not realize John pulling away from her and turning towards Abigail. Soon after Elizabeth finds out John committed adultery with Abby, she fires her. Later on in the novel Elizabeth is accused of being a witch and John goes to court to prove Abigail is lying. When John does try to prove Abigail is lying, he ends up confessing that he committed adultery with Abigail. Then the judges bring in Elizabeth to tell the truth whether John had an affair or not. When she was asked if John committed adultery she replies, "No, sir" (Miller 1237). As soon as she replied John yells, "I have confessed it!" (Miller 1237). Elizabeth gasps and feels horrible because she has lied even though she knew the truth.But Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale has also felt the burden of knowing the truth and not being unable to speak of it. He secretly has a love affair with Hester Prynne and when she is displayed in the marketplace, Dimmesdale has a chance to speak out the truth, but he does not. Instead he speaks to Hester, "..I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow sufferer!"(Hawthorne 73). It is hypocritical of Arthur to tell Hester to speak ...
