Freedom is not easily granted to people whose lives have been filled with the guilt of sin. In order to live a life free from a guilty conscience, one must suffer from their sins and wear their own mark of shame. This mark serves as a catalyst for personal transformation and the character is either strengthened by the experience or the character meets their demise. Everyone desires to live a life free from the morose and nefarious ways of sin, but in order to do this they must clear their conscience. In the Romance novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the personal transformation is evident in the rigid and unforgiving Puritan town of Boston. This transformation is evident through the use of irony, symbols, and imagery. Hawthorne explores how difficult it is to thrive with a guilty heart and an immense amount of confusion.…
