Here is a key question for Hawthorne and the Anti-Transcendentalists: can a "polluted soul" do good for others? In chapter 17.

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you write, "Polluted soul". Which character are you referring to? It was only the very narrow and hypocritical judgment of the Puritans that Hester, Dimmesdale, or Pearl was sinful. Chillingworth certainly could have been seen as having a “polluted soul”.