Nathaniel Hawthorne, a critically acclaimed American writer of the 19th century, was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. The novelist's book, The Scarlet Letter, is supposedly his best work, and universally considered a literary classic. Concerned with sin and consequences of dealing with it, Hawthorne's work relates to his own personal sense of shame about his ancestor's persecuting roles in the 17th century Salem Witch Trials. By indirectly dealing with his sense of guilt through fictional circumstances, he shows his viewpoint as being highly critical of the Puritans while teaching a strong moral lesson in the process. Graduating in the...
chapters. Otherwise, he did a phenomenal job with his writing style.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's incoporation of the Puritans make it obvious of his motive to write about the settings and plot he chose. His emphasis on their harsh, fundamentalist views on life show his clear judgement about Puritans and what they did concerning sin. Also, Hawthorne included real, factual characters like John Winthrop to make it further believable and interesting, even though there is much more stress on the theme of the book rather than the setting. This book teaches an envaluable lesson about the importance of dealing with sin.