When someone makes a mistake, they usually try to hide the truth to avoid the consequences. The Puritans had a very strict society in which all sins were severely punished. In Nathanial Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commit adultery, but the audience only knows of Hester's sin; Dimmesdale's remains are hidden. However, by hiding his sin, Dimmesdale suffers far more than Hester. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorn shows that the repercussions of a "secret sin" are far worse than those of a revealed sin. Hester's punishment comes from society, so it is not as painful as it could be. Part of Hester's punishment involves standing on the scaffold – in shame – for three hours. The scaffold is a place where “iniquity is dragged out into the sun” (57) and the truth is revealed, so that everyone in the Puritan town knows that Hester is guilty of sin. Although her punishment is denigrating, it is not as severe as usual punishments, because she does not have to endure “this complaint around her neck” (58). The other part of her punishment is to wear, for the rest of her life, a scarlet "A" on her dress. The A, for adultery, is supposed to be a stigma that everyone can see and make fun of. However, Hester embroiders the mark beautifully with gold thread and wears it with pride. The mark stays with her after she leaves the scaffold and finds a house on the outskirts of the city. She is originally despised and avoided, but she is necessary: ​​she sews for the governor and the soldiers for public ceremonies. Due to the passage of time, her usefulness, and her acceptable behavior (she never fights with the public or complains), Hester is forgiven and her sin is forgotten. Seven years after receiving the "A", people change the meaning of the letter from "adulterous" to "capable", and instead of calling it sinful, townspeople describe it as one that is "so useful to the sick" . , so comfortable for the afflicted” (169). Society believes that Hester has already served enough time and she eventually becomes a respected woman in the town. Since the truth of her sin is known, Hester is able to overcome society's punishment; eventually, she regains the acceptance, and even admiration, of the Puritan townspeople.