Can a sinful person redeem him/herself in God's eyes? In the book The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne poses to readers this question. His answer is yes, but the person must truly face the sin and overcome it. The book's protagonist, Hester Prynne, does just this. She completes her penance willingly, and earnestly wants to atone for her sin. However, in the movie The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne's question is answered differently. The character of Hester Prynne is portrayed as headstrong and not particularly concerned about repenting. In this sense, and others, the movie adaptation entirely contradicts Hawthorne's intentions in the book; its depictions of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth compromise the purpose of Hawthorne's novel.

In the movie, the portrayals of these three characters are all drastically dissimilar to those in the novel. As stated, Hester is much less concerned about atoning for her sin in...