The Scarlet Letter: Sin Affects In the novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne focuses on Hester Prynne’s sin. Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and bares a child named Pearl. Hester is judged guilty by the townspeople and is forced to wear a letter A on her chest. She does not tell the town that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl. Hester suffers persecution for her sin and is shunned by the townspeople. Her punishment caused a dramatic change in her personality. She became more kind and charitable by helping the poor and the sick.