Clash of Belief Systems in The Scarlet Letter Each person bases their judgment of others on their own values ​​or belief systems. These values ​​or belief systems are influenced by experiences at home and at school. The prevailing culture in an area also has a huge impact on the child's belief systems. It is easy for a child to learn the difference between right and wrong, but they may fail to grasp the fact that the values ​​they are taught are filtered through the belief systems of those they teach. Hawthorne judges the characters in The Scarlet Letter using his own belief systems – drastically different from those of the Puritans. Instead of the strict and harsh values ​​of the Puritans, Hawthorne sees life through the eyes of a romantic. He judges each person accordingly, characterizing each person's sin as the forgivable sin of nature or the unpardonable sin of the human soul. It can be inferred, from the writing style, that Hawthorne is the most forgiving of Hester. He writes about Hester with a feeling of compassion that is missing from the descriptions of the other characters. Hawthorne approves of Hetser's feeling, vitality, and thirst to overcome the iron chains of binding society. It shows us that although Hester is not allowed to express her feelings verbally due to social persecution, there is no one who can restrain the thoughts of the human mind. Hawthorne, being a romantic and a man of nature himself, can relate to this. If you were to look up the characteristics of human mating in a science book you might be shocked or surprised. The human instinct is to have more than one partner so as not to remain faithful to one partner...... middle of paper ......rew emaciated his voice, still rich and sweet had in it a melancholy prophecy of decadence it was often observed, in case of slight alarm or other sudden incident, to place the hand on the heart, first becoming red and then pale, indicative of pain. (119)Hawthorne is a romantic and has the personality of one. He is very forgiving of Hester because she is a romantic person. He lives in a society many years before his time, but he has a strong will and fights society's contempt to overcome his sin. Hawthorne places Dimmsdale somewhere in the foggy middle, between these two characters. Dimmsdale is there because he commits no direct sin. By not telling anyone about his secret sin he causes pain to himself and Hester. He clearly characterizes Chilingworth as the least forgivable because he commits the sin of the heart, soul, and God.