We concluded our study of The Scarlet Letter today by first exploring the distinction between the unreliable narrator and narrative perspective as evidenced in the text.I directed Joshua's attention to certain passages and had him identify diction that illustrates the narrative perspective. We then discussed how that perspective -essentially a condemnation of Puritan values that persisted in 1850 when the novel was published -informs the theme. We discussed how Dimmesdale's death is a byproduct of Puritan values that force people to pretend to be what they can not be -in Hawthorne's view-sinless. We also studied passages wherein the narrator purports to state the novel's message and discussed whether the narrator ironically misses the very point of his own story.