Sin-name-an immoral act considered a transgression of divine law. Sometimes sin can distort and mutilate the social norms of an entire society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, sin circumvented the strictly religious Puritan way of life with three characters: Reverend Dimmesdale, Pearl Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth. Dimmesdale represents the hidden sin that continued to manifest itself as the story developed. The pearl represents the product of sin that can be changed into a blessing with time and care. Chillingworth represents the depravity of hidden sin becoming more powerful and influential over its owner. When these three forms of sin combine on one occasion, death and new life will appear and the ancestors will be blamed. Reverend Dimmesdale represents the hidden sin that may have taken root in a soul. “Many poor souls have placed their trust in me, not only on their deathbed, but while their lives were strong and their reputations were good. And still afterwards, alone in effusion, oh, what relief I witnessed in these sinner brothers. (Hawthorne p. 120) Dimmesdale describes how sin troubled and hurt him, as well as the relief others showed when he was freed. “Trusting no man as a friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the letter actually appeared. » (Hawthorne p. 119) Hidden sin corrupted the way he saw the world, distorting his perception of everyone around him. “The conference of the sick had been kept in a state of irritation whose tendency was not to heal by salutary pain, but to disapprove and corrupt its spiritual being. Its result on earth could not fail to be madness and subsequently that eternal alienation from god and truth, whose madness... middle of paper... unwanted manifestation of ingworth had consumed the body, the spirit of Dimmesdale, and the soul adding to the many infamies of Chillingworth. In his last moment, he called out to God, but it is not known if he was answered. As a result, Chillingworth was portrayed as a man who fell foul of the hidden sin that destroyed Dimmesdale, but this did nothing to harm the product of said sin. In this novel, the author demonstrates that sin has the ability to bend the strictest rules in the form of three major characters: Reverend Dimmesdale, Pearl Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth. Dimmesdale's sin created Pear, the product of his shared sin. Chillingworth contributed to the effects of sin, leaving Dimmesdale deprived mentally and physically, but failing to harm his product. Hawthorne shows that innocence can arise from evil, but with help, evil can become something much more destructive..