【正确答案】正确答案：Considering Hawthorne"s growing background, I think his blame is justified. Hawthorne was intensely aware of the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors, so he wrote some of his books like The Scarlet Letter as an attempt at expiating the sin of his ancestors. The religious of Puritanism was known for its intolerance of dissenting ideas and lifestyles. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne used the repressive, authoritarian Puritan society as an analogue for humankind. The Puritan setting also enabled him to portray the human soul under extreme pressures. The affairs of Hester and Dimmesdale, for example, recall the story of Adam and Eve, because in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. Hester and Dimmesdale contemplated their own sinfulness on a daily basis and tried to reconcile it with their lived experiences. The Puritan elders, on the other hand, insisted on seeing earthly experience as merely an obstacle on the path to heaven. Thus, they viewed sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and suppressed. Their answer to Hester"s sin was to ostracize her. In this book, we can see Hawthorne himself seems to be haunted by the religious ideas of Puritanism, and we can see his hatred and blame to them as well.