Guilt

Everyone has felt guilty at some point in their life; whether it was sneaking a cookie from the cookie jar or hurting a friend , everyone has felt the horrible feeling of guilt.

 In The Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale commit adultery together and each have their own punishment and guilt. Hester's punishment is more public than Dimmesdale's and is just to wear a scarlet "A" on all of her clothes, though her guilt is more towards Dimmesdale's self-punishment. Dimmesdale feels immense guilt and internally punishes himself for his crime. Because he hasn't told anyone and doesn't feel absolved for his sins, Dimmesdale beings to die inside and later his own mark appears on his chest; Dimmesdale eventually dies because he hasn't told anyone about his sins.


** In the Harry Potter series, Regulus Arcturus Black (Sirius' brother) half-heartedly joins the Death Eaters and lets Voldemort use his house elf and friend Kreacher as a guinea pig for his hidden horcrux. Kreacher is put through hell testing out how well Voldemort's horcrux is hidden and how the defenses affect people. Once he returns, Kreacher tells Black all about it and Regulus feels extremely guilty for joining the Death Eaters and letting Kreacher be tortured. Because he is so guilty, Black goes to the cave where the horcrux is hidden, knowing he is going to die, and drinks the poisonous potion himself; steals the horcrux; and has Kreacher go back without him and destroy it while he is left to die. Guilt really can eat away at your soul, and really can cause people to die.


**In case you don't know, I love Harry Potter and can relate almost anything to it. So I apologize if you don't like Harry Potter or don't get the reference. If you don't get it and haven't read the books or seen the movies, either ask me about it or go read/watch it. Seriously. Best series ever. [: