The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne The presence of the scaffold

The Climactic Presence of the Scaffold <Tab/>Ever since the days of old, public condemnation was an occurrence that the public always enjoyed attending. From the guillotine to the gallows there was always some way to condemn a person for his or her sins. The scaffold, used by Puritans around the 17th century, was used to depict the foulest of criminals. To be upon the scaffold in front of the community …

…see the good in someone, only the bad. It will be important that we do not emulate the Puritans in their severe lack of judgment, for if we do, some of our sins can and will be eternal ones. On a whole, humanity is in a state of maelstrom, it is always carping in its fellow people's lives, and if we keep it up God will eschew us from Haven and we will find Hell!