her child in solitude Her loneliness makes her strong but also sad Hawthorne shows that a heart cut off from sympathy cannot find true peace or happiness Dimmesdale s Secret Isolation Reverend Dimmesdale suffers from inner isolation He hides his sin and pretends to be pure A woman says The Reverend Master Dimmesdale takes it very grievously to his heart Ironically his pain is unseen by others His silence separates him from love rest and God He stands before the people as holy but feels dead within His hidden guilt becomes a wall around his soul Hawthorne uses him to show that isolation born of hypocrisy is the worst curse of modern life Chillingworth s Evil Isolation Roger Chillingworth isolates himself through hatred and revenge Once a calm scholar he turns into a cruel man Dimmesdale says He has violated in cold blood the sanctity of a human heart His desire for vengeance cuts him off from all love and pity He lives only to destroy another man s soul His mind becomes dark and empty Hawthorne presents him as the perfect image of the intellect without heart His isolation is the punishment for his inhuman and loveless life Isolation in Society The Puritan society itself symbolises isolation It values law over love and pride over mercy People judge others but hide their own sins The narrator says But this had been a sin of passion not of principle The society cannot see the difference between passion and evil It isolates every sinner instead of forgiving them Hawthorne criticizes this cold and proud moral system He shows that a society without compassion becomes like modern civilization material hard and spiritually lifeless The Path to Union Hawthorne finally gives hope through truth and confession The narrator ends the novel with the moral Be true Be true Be true Dimmesdale s public confession breaks his isolation and brings peace Hester s suffering makes her kind and wise Hawthorne suggests that honesty sympathy and love can heal human separation The only cure for the curse of isolation is truth and spiritual connection In termination we can say that Hawthorne shows that isolation is the greatest curse of both Puritan and modern life Hester s shame Dimmesdale s guilt and Chillingworth s hatred all grow from loneliness The novel teaches that love and confession unite the human heart while pride and secrecy divide it Hawthorne s message is timeless no society or soul can live in peace without sympathy truth and forgiveness