Yet most readers are able to distinguish the hypocrisy in Puritan society. Some have even argued that Hawthorne's stories were a way for him to "comment on the hypocrisy of Puritan society in the treatment and management of sinners" (Sterling). They “hated and feared everything that was private”; thus, they treated sinners as a lesson to show everyone what happens when they sin (Baym). However, when it came to seeing the sins of their beloved leaders, they turned a blind eye. Therefore, showing that the Puritans were biased and not fulfilling their role as respectable Christians, as described by John Winthrop in "A Model of Christian