The characters in "The Scarlet Letter" deceive themselves by hiding their identities behind false truths, which hinders their knowledge and understanding. Nathaniel Hawthorne summarizes the necessity of honesty when Hester states, "In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held fast, and did hold fast through all extremity . . . a lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!" (191). Honesty is crucial to life because lies limit self-growth.
Roger Chillingworth's change from a scholar to someone obsessed with having re…
