A person's reaction to sin can be more damaging than the sin itself, depending on how they react. The Scarlet Letter clearly incorporates the idea that how a person deals with sin determines the outcome of their character. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth all have different reactions to sin throughout The Scarlet Letter, which affects their character and outcome. Hester throughout The Scarlet Letter has a variety of reactions to sin. At first, the community shames and alienates Hester, allowing Hester to become a free thinker. His solitude allows him to reflect and question many aspects of the community. However, later in the story, Hester becomes a compassionate and motherly figure. She ensures that her choices won't take Pearl away from her. When Hester makes decisions, she takes Pearl into consideration, which shows readers that Hester's mother figure is coming through. Hester also shows a motherly figure towards her community. She does a lot of charitable work bringing food and clothing to the poor. Hester throughout the book feels guilty and gets used to blaming herself. For example, when Hesters sees Chillingworth, she blames herself for causing Chillingsworth to become a wicked man. Hester, before sinning with Dimmesdale, had traces of compassion, defiance, and honesty, but the Scarlet Letter brings this out more. Hester eventually agrees to run away with Dimmesdale and start a new life. However, things do not go as planned and Hester leaves Boston for a short time but returns and is seen as a bold figure in the community. Towards the end of the seven year period, the women ignore her sin and come to her for protection from the many inequalities they face. The meaning of the scarlet letter in the middle of paper......occurred in the face of sin. Chillingworth's response to sin is not to seek justice but rather to seek revenge. Chillingworth's life eventually begins to revolve around ways to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Unlike Hester and Dimmesdale's sin, Chillingworth's is deliberately aimed at causing harm. When Dimmesdale eventually dies, Chillingworth has nothing to live for since he has dedicated his entire life to getting revenge on Dimmesdale. Consequently, Chillingworth died less than a year after Dimmesdale's death. The Scarlet Letter attempts to make readers understand that sin can have a positive or negative outcome depending on how that person chooses to respond to sin. As long as there is sin, people will react to it in different ways; some will hide it, some will accept it, some will rot. But no matter how sin is dealt with, it will always leave its mark..