"These people had no ritual for the washing away of sins. It is another trait we inherited from them, and it has helped to discipline us as well as to breed hypocrisy among us" (148).
In The Crucible, John Proctor is described as a sinner, both to the society and to himself. Although he appears to be respected by others, he sees himself a fraud because in the Puritan religion there is no way a sinner can get rid of his/her sins. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale also cannot wash away their sins. Hester's bond to the scarlet letter symbolizes that she has no way of redeeming herself. Dimmesdale, though he kept secret, suffers without a moment's rest over his sin until he died. Unlike The Scarlet Letter, however, characters in The Crucible don't seem to struggle with their sins as much.
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