In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the Puritan society by the people's obsession with sin. Puritans believed in total depravity, which means that all people were born sinners, so Purtians maintained strict watch over themselves and the people around them. Many sins such as adultury were punishable by death. Hester was spared execution because the Puritans of Boston thought it would benefit the community to use her as a "living sermon against sin". Hawthorne portrays the oppresion and adherence to religious law that was so vital to their culture.
In chapter 16, the Puritanism ideas of preserving the functional aspects of their society is shown. When Pearl makes the connection of her mother and Dimmesdale, it is understood that the people have not made this connection because they refuse to make what would seem to be an obvious set of connections between Hester's situation and the minister's mysterious torments. The refuse to see this because the people of Boston see the minister as an icon of purity, who would never commit this sin.
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