Book: Scarlet Letter Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne Title of Paper: Allegiance This essay Parallels Arthur Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter to Kenneth Lay, the former CEO of Enron

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale is a young Puritan pastor who has committed adultery. While Hester was looked at with scorn for the sin that she had committed, Dimmesdale was greatly respected by the whole community, who were unaware that he had committed the same sin as Hester. The way in which Dimmesdale broke his allegiance to himself, Hester, and his Puritan community can be compared to the way that Kenneth Lay, the CEO of Enron mislead his employees and the Enron stockholders.
Dimmesdale can be compared to Kenneth Lay in how he was a leader who committed a crime, se…