The Scarlet Letter: The Harsh Puritan Society In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid, Puritanistic-structured society in which one is unable to divulge his or her innermost thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel, or the emotion is bottled up until it becomes volatile. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this expression, so characters had to seek alternate means in order to relieve themselves. Luckily, at least for the four main characters, Hawthorne provides such a sanctuary in the form of the mysterious forest. Haw