Dimmesdale Essay

Mr. Dimmesdale’s conscience constantly brought his negative aspects to mind, and caused him to spiral into self hatred and misery. The overwhelming presence of guilt for his offense caused Mr. Dimmesdale unbearable suffering and general unhappiness in knowing that he had not only wronged God, but Hester and the entire community as well.

In Chapter 9, Chillingworth 's evil nature starts to show. As Dimmesdale suffers with the guilt of being Pearl 's father, Chillingworth acts as a physician who seems to be taking the life out of Dimmesdale even more. The townspeople are beginning to notice that there is"something ugly and evil starting in his face" (Hawthorne, 124). In chapter 10, this theme of evil continues with Chillingworth, for he continues to get worse. In this chapter, it is clear that Chillingworth 's goal of revenge is to increase Dimmesdale’s inner pain. Hawthorne describes Chillingworth as a "thief entering a chamber where a man lies only half asleep" (Hawthorne, 126) as a way to further symbolize his evilness. Chillingworth harasses Dimmesdale constantly about his secrets asking, "why not reveal them here?" (Hawthorne, 128). But even with all the nagging, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal what 's been making him sick on the inside. In chapter 11, Dimmesdale 's suffering only increases. His sermons hint at his sinful nature, but everyone is being mislead by them for they seem to think that Dimmesdale is even more holy. Dimmesdale is "tortured by some black trouble of the soul"(Hawthorne, 137) and yet, his hidden public confessions are misunderstood. However, Dimmesdale is aware of this, for "the minister well knew- subtle, but remorseful hypocrite- that he was"(Hawthorne, 141). In chapter 12, during the night, Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, in which it can clearly be seen that

When considering this further, the burden, which the scarlet letter and its separate culpabilities imply, reveals how the character Dimmesdale feels shame in his inability

Dimmesdale believes that Hester has declared her sins through the scarlet A on her chest and it relieves her burden. Dimmesdales hidden thoughts, however, seem to be the source of his illness. Despite this, he doesn’t tell anyone and doesn’t believe in confessing to an “earthly physician” and believes he should only confess to Christ. Chillingworth gets impatient but after they fight, the two men make up. Later, Dimmesdale falls asleep and Chillingworth goes to his room and lifts his shirt to reveal something that excites him. To me, his secretive nature reveals his not-so-positive intentions and the townspeople rightly suspect him of acting darkly towards the

He perpetrates this act of sin and permits the guilt of his deed to haunt him every day of his life. He tries to justify the hiding of his sin by thinking of the damage it could do to his congregation. He believes that he needs to demonstrate a virtuous disposition for his church members. However, despite his attempts at justification, he still suffers tremendously for his sin. Instead of repenting his misdeed, he buries it deep inside of his heart, causing it to slowly deteriorate. In his heart “there was, and there had long been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain” caused by his remorse (Hawthorne 135). Rather than admitting his sin, he inflicts in private actions of self-harm including fasting and scourging himself. Hawthorne emphasizes the daily torture that concealed sin can cause through Dimmesdale’s internal

               The fact that Dimmesdale is a hypocrite causes him to experience increased torment due to his guilt.  Dimmesdale beautifully illustrates Hawthorne’s point, because if he were not such a highly religious man, then he would not care about his crime.  However, he does care, and he inflicts torment on himself, including long periods of fasting. In addition to hours of staring at himself in the mirror, he could also be caught numerous times in his closet, whipping himself and burning the letter "A" on his chest.   Or he could be seen at the scaffold in the wee hours of the morning, practicing how he is going to confess the next day. Deluding himself by pretending that his

Dimmesdale’s guilt was evident in his physical condition and how he often clutched his hand over his heart—a symbol that he felt same agony of the letter “A” because he was a partaker of the sin. Furthermore, the minister’s unease is shown in chapter twenty when he fears that he has made a bargain with the “black man.” When Dimmesdale returned to town from the forest, he began to get tempted in several incidences with people of all ages and genders. However, he did not fall into temptation. Once again, Dimmesdale felt the support and strength of God, and it was ultimately God’s grace that made him victorious over the temptations and his fear towards the devil. With God in his life, Dimmesdale did not feel confused instead he had a focus and a burst of energy rise in him. After the reconciliation between the minister and God, Dimmesdale showed a sign of strength as he confronted Chillingworth and confessed to the doctor that he will no longer be taking the medicine. Chapter twenty shows the importance of God in Dimmesdale’s life. When life was chaotic, God was there to remedy the problems and get Dimmesdale to focus. The minister shows his awe and gratitude to God by humbly saying how God could use a “…foul…organ-pipe as he [Dimmesdale].” In addition, Dimmesdale’s psychological strength is shown when he decides to rewrite the Election Sermon and he is so enthusiastic about the speech that time “fled away”

            The agony that Reverend Dimmesdale was feeling throughout the novel had many origins.  For example, his conscience had a great negative effect on him.  By keeping his sin a secret, he internalized the pain that is inevitably a consequence of sinning.  The anguished Dimmesdale struggles to pacify his conscience as it consumes his very being.  "With every successive Sabbath, his cheeks grew paler and thinner, and his voice more tremulous than before."  This shows that while Hester's pain was a mental anguish, the Reverend had to deal with both mental as well as physical pain.  Each time Dimmesdale stood in front of his congregation, he felt weaker and more ashamed.  Dimmesdale's pain could be seen not only in his demeanor but also by the clutching of his chest.  Throughout the novel, the Reverend could be seen placing his hand over his heart, as if the pain of seeing Pearl, or talking to Hester, or merely realizing what he has done, was too much for him to bear.  Pearl often times is quoted noticing the Reverend's strange habit- "A strange, sad man is he (Dimmesdale), with his hand always over his heart!"  An analogy can be made that the Reverend covers his heart from eyes that can see

masked mark in his heart. As a result of his concealed sin, Dimmesdale suffers from guilt and

    Dimmesdale on the other hand continues to suffer physically and mentally for the concealment of his sin.  Dimmesdale feels that he is safe from being condemned by Puritan society by concealing his sin, yet ironically, it eats away at his heart.  Ironically, a townsperson says to Dimmesdale, speaking of the searching out of sin, "methinks it

Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale appear very similar in how they act, how their actions influence them, and how they respond to these actions. They both untruthfully seem like honorable men to the townspeople, and act as if they truly do conduct themselves in this way. By behaving like this, they delve further into sin and suffering; however, instead of divulging who they really are, they both continue making these mistakes of dishonesty. For example, when Chillingworth comprehends that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, he decides to take revenge, but this choice causes “a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity [to seize] the old man” (Hawthorne, 120). Dimmesdale, too, suffers from deteriorating health

Chillingworth made Dimmesdale suffer by exaggerating his illness, and humiliating him with guilt of his sin “a bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but an ailment in the spiritual part”. the fragility and susceptibility of Dimmesdale states clearly his weakness, moreover.

Dimmesdale in the story has the sin of being the father of purl but does not have the courage to tell the towns people because he is afraid of losing his reverence. Fore to seven years have passed and Rev. Dimmesdale continues to live his life but his sin eats away at his fiscal appearance and the towns people think that the reason why he has bad health is because he works to much. Dimmesdale’s health is becoming worse but it’s ironic because he is becoming more popular in the town whit people respecting him and women want him to propose marriage to them. In the story it is interesting when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold but nobody sees him except the two people that already know his secret which is heister prin and her little purl, all

This concealed sin is the center of his tormented conscience. The pressures on him from society are greater than those on Hester because he is a man in high standing, expected to represent the epitome of the Puritanical ideals. It is ironic that Dimmesdale, who is supposed to be absolutely pure and urges congregation to confess and openly repent their sins, is incapable of doing so himself. He knows the hypocrisy of his actions but cannot bring himself to admit his deed publicly. In resentment of this he punishes himself physically - he is "often observed to put his hand over his heart, with indicative of pain" (ch 9). Dimmesdale's resistance to be true to himself gradually destroys his well being as well as Hester's, and although he eventually declares the truth, his resistance ends him.

The guilt that plagues Arthur Dimmesdale, leads to the climax of the novel, in which Dimmesdale overcomes his inner conflict. Throughout the entire book, Dimmesdale has struggled with trying to reveal what he has done. At first he is to cowardly to do this, but eventually Dimmesdale realizes the only way to redeem himself is to confess his sins and repent. Knowing it is the only way to redemption, Dimmesdale goes before the whole town, with Hester and Pearl, and reveals his sin to the people. Dimmesdale’s