The Scarlet Letter: Only God Should JudgeIn Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, many moral questions come to mind. On the one hand, the book is about an adulterous woman trying to live her life in an old Puritan town. This is especially difficult since the man who committed this sin with her, known as Arthur Dimmesdale, refuses to confess his role in her crime. The town has many beliefs about who or what Hester is, making it impossible for Hester to live a normal, happy life. Thoughts about adultery were not very good in the days of the Puritans. Many people were banished from society or even killed. Hester's punishment is relatively light due to her age and beauty. She is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her chest for the rest of her life so that all can see her shame. But for Hester, death would have been a much more welcome punishment. As a result of her action and punishment, she ends up becoming a sad and ashamed old woman who never frees herself from her shame. Seeing his courage, Dimmesdale confesses to having also committed adultery and subsequently dies of weakness of heart. Hester dies years later and even in death she is not released because at her grave only a dark darkness surrounds her, never any light. The Scarlet Letter is a book that involves the perception of adultery, its thoughts and the resulting results. To begin with, the perceptions about Hester as shown throughout the novel are not good at all. Some people think she is a witch, this is shown when a real witch asks her if she will join them later that night in the forest for a witches' gathering: "Hist, Hist Will you come with us tonight ? » (p. 80). Other people believe that Hester is somehow involved with Satan by directly connecting the scarlet letter to evil or the supernatural: "the scarlet letter cast a sinister glow along the passage from within." » (p. 48) The women of the town also frown. following her action and when she stands on top of the scaffold, they mock her by saying things such as “…in front of this cheeky rascal…” (p. 26). The town believes that what she did is wrong and immoral, which it is, but what they don't realize is that it's not because she's a witch or Satan's demon and certainly not shameless.