Dimmesdale's Journey

Dimmesdale is a symbol of dishonesty and is a self-centered individual; he knows what he must do in order to make it honorable but lacks the courage and confidence to make himself public. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester tells Dimmesdale that the ship for Europe leaves in four days. He is delighted with the matter of being able to "fulfill his public duties" and give his Election Sermon before leaving. Although from this disdainful act, he worries that the congregation may notice the features found in Pearl’s face may be identical to his

Hester and Dimmesdale begin talking in the next chapter. The way that Hawthorne writes their conversation you can almost feel the love that both Hester and Dimmesdale feels toward each other. As their conversation grows deeper Dimmesdale asks Hester if she founds peace, she replies by looking at the scarlet letter, which is a symbolism on how Hester as if she will never find peace as long as she wears this letter, when she returns the question Dimmesdale respond by saying he is miserable. I feel as though Dimmesdale will always be miserable no matter how much charity work he does at the church, the guilt of being a hypocrite is eating him alive. All Dimmesdale wants is a friend or an enemy that knew his secret. When Hester tells Dimmesdale about Chillingworth and how he is her husband I could not help but snicker. His ignorance is astonishing, even the puritans realized that Chillingworth was becoming wicked. Dimmesdale proclaims that he can no longer live under the same roof as Chillingworth, which is when Hester suggest moving back to

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

Dimmesdale instead keeps his scarlet letter close to his heart. “‘But why does he not wear it outside his bosom, as thou dost, mother?’” (Hawthorne, 150) Pearls asks Hester in the forest. He doesn’t wear it outside his bosom because he has not revealed his sin to the members of the community. Dimmesdale’s health deteriorates since the moment he does not reveal his sin. Roger Chillingworth says “In such case, it could only be the symptom of a highly disordered mental state, when a man, rendered morbidly self-contemplative by long, intense, and secret pain, had extended his egotism over the whole expanse of nature” (Hawthorne, 126). Dimmesdale wishes that he could show his sin like Hester “‘Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly on your bosom! Mine burns in secret!’” (Hawthorne, 154) It is indeed his “secret pain” that kills him in the

Instead of confessing to the community, Dimmesdale, to try and seek forgiveness in another way than confessing, tortures himself to the brink of death. Whilst talking to Hester in the forest, Dimmesdale says: “Had I one friend, —or were it my worst enemy! —to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But now, it is all falsehood! —all emptiness! —all death!” (288-289). Dimmesdale is depressed in the way that the only thing keeping him alive is his sin. Hester after seven years, is seen as a sort of hero in the community, which is shown when the town calls her “our Hester” (244). Dimmesdale is not able to confess and be forgiven, in relation to Hester already being forgiven and living a relatively decent life. Dimmesdale also must look to other methods for forgiveness while Hester lives with a static punishment. Dimmesdale physically whips himself to attempt to achieve forgiveness, he also does not have anyone to counsel about his feelings, which leads to much depression. Dimmesdale also must deal with physical and mental pain, while Hester deals with

Although both Hester and Dimmesdale committed the same crime, which was adultery, their scarlet letters are different from one another in many ways. One way they’re different is because Hester’s scarlet letter was an article of clothing. Dimmesdale’s scarlet letter, however is carved into his chest. Since Hester’s is out and into the open for others to see, she is looked down upon. At the time, adultery was a huge sin. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, had to live his life as a coward hiding the truth. He did not tell people of his crime; he kept it to himself. This is another way their scarlet letters are different. The two handled the situations very differently. Hester took the consequences fairly, while Dimmesdale showed no sign of giving in to the townspeople. Since Hester lived a harsh life due to all the attention and hatred she received from others, she grew up to become quite a strong woman. Dimmesdale becomes weaker, even paler, over time. Although the two have their differences, they also had some similarities. Both of them were, in a way, cowards. Yes, Hester took all of the blame while Dimmesdale took none of it, but the two still didn’t want to have the town see the whole situation they were in. hester did not want them to find out about her husband, Chillingworth, or about her true love, Dimmesdale. Of course she took the penalties of committing adultery, however, she does not want the people to know exactly who she committed the crimes with/against. Both

Dimmesdale needs to feel forgiven by all the townspeople that he misled and he will do anything to get that forgiveness. Dimmesdale is with Hester on a platform in front of the townspeople he begins to say there is someone among them as guilty as Hester he then “With a spasm, he tore his minister’s robe away from his breast. It was revealed”(Hawthorne 23). Dimmesdale finally got to do what he wanted to do all along and take the soul crushing guilt off of his conscious and he got to do that with his last breathes. Dimmesdale get this off of his chest in a way to get the forgiveness he wants but Hester is looking for a different type of forgiveness. Hester wants forgiveness but not from the townspeople but she wants it from Dimmesdale for a different reason. Hester feels guilty for her dealings with Chillingworth and wants Dimmesdale's forgiveness when she say this “Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive!"(Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter Dimmesdale could be a hero or a coward in hiding his sin from the Puritan community, but based on the evidence in the book, he is portrayed as a coward. In the book he continues his daily life as he usually would have, he has many chances to admit that he was the other person to participate in the sin with Hester, and he doesn’t continually pressure Hester into telling who the father of Pearl is. First of all, Dimmesdale continued his daily life as if he hadn’t sinned with Hester. For example, during the punishment of Hester he allowed himself to remain above the community with the other powerful people instead of not going to her punishment. This also showed when he appeared with Bellingham, Wilson, and Chillingworth in Bellingham’s house.

Dimmesdale’s condition becomes no better, especially under the intrusive care of Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, who of course has ulterior motives for agreeing to be his caretaker. Towards the end of the novel, Dimmesdale’s conditions spike, but this time in a positive way; this of course occurring after he accepts his sin and makes plans to flee the town with Hester and Pearl. Racing through the town, Dimmesdale feels energetic and impulsive, wanting to say to everyone that he passes “‘I am not the man for who you take me! I left him yonder in the

Hester wishes to talk to Dimmesdale in the forest, a place where she feels like she can be honest. As she waits for Dimmesdale, Pearl asks to hear about the Black Man, which she is referring to the devil. Pearl says that not only he holds a book while haunting the book, he also marks a letter on his followers. Pearl’s fascination about the devil is drawn towards by the scarlet letter, she is constantly reminding Hester that the scarlet letter is a mark of sin, she is related to evil. Pearl claims that she heard the story from an old woman, who explained that this is why Hester has a scarlet letter, like Dimmesdale hiding his lies, Hester uses denies the story as true to hide her sin from Pearl. When Pearl sees Dimmesdale and his hand covering

Dimmesdale is the man that Hester committed adultery with, and because he cannot confess his sins to the community he cannot seek forgiveness without causing damage to Hester and Pearl. As a way to solve his problem he whips himself with a scourge and punishes himself by fasting for long periods of time. This is why his physical and spiritual condition is deteriorating. In an effort to solve this problem the Puritans suggest that Chillingworth, being a physician, try to find the root of this problem and heal Dimmesdale. Neither of the men knows how the other is related to Hester.

Dimmesdale whips himself to punish himself for his sins, and as his sin grew inside of him and festered there, he became very ill, he started getting very sick, holding his heart even more than usual. Chillingworth one night after Dimmesdale had fallen asleep, sneaks into Dimmesdale’s room, rips open his shirt, and right over his heart, is the Black Man’s mark, the scarlet letter ‘A’. Dimmesdale becomes even more sick as time goes on, Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave to go to England, but before that happens, Dimmesdale gives his final sermon, which was phenomenal, and as they are leaving the church, Dimmesdale gets onto the scaffold, asks Hester and Pearl to join him “He turned towards the scaffold, and stretched forth his arms. ‘Hester,’ said he, ‘come hither! Come, my little Pearl!’” (Hawthorne 376), as he declares that he is the father and that he loves them. Pearl grants him the kiss he has been wanting/needing from her, and right after, Dimmesdale collapses on the scaffold and dies. Dimmesdale is buried in a tomb and when Hester dies, she is then placed basically beside him, sharing a headstone to mark their love.

Dimmesdale was punishing himself for his sins and Hester and Pearl join him. A meteor marks a red ''A'' on the sky when Dimmesdale refuses Pearl's request that he acknowledge her publicy the next day. Hester can see that Dimmesdale is getting worse and she decides to intervine .Hester asks Chillingworth to stop adding to Dimmesdale's self-torment, but he refuses. Hester makes an encounter with Dimmesdale in the forest because she knows that Chillingworth suspects that she plans to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale. Hester and Chillingworth decide to go to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. Both Hester and Chillingworth feel free and Hester removes the scarlet letter on her breast and lets down her hair. The day before the ship sails, the townspeople gather up for a holiday and Dimmesdale preaches his best sermon ever. Dimmesdale leaves the church after his sermon and he sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. Dimmesdale confesses publicly that Pearl is his daughter and falls dead as Pearl gives him a

For several years, Hester is prohibited from seeing her love in public. She can only meet with him privately. Even wanting to still see him represents true loyalty—after everything Hester has been through to protect Dimmsdale's secret is reason enough to be fed up with him (Swisher 53). Hester's loyalty to Dimmsdale continues until the end; she cradles him in his last dying moments on Earth. (Swisher 53) Hester keeps her loyalty to her husband, Roger Chillingworth, as well. He asks her not to reveal his identity in their first discussion of the novel, and she obliges. For many years, she keeps the secret while Chillingworth does dreadful things to Dimmsdale. Dimmsdale's deteriorating health is part due to the awful arts Chillingworth performs on his so-called “patient.” (Swisher 53) In chapter fifteen, Hester goes to confront Chillingworth about the situation. Hester argues and argues but Chillingworth

Though Reverend Dimmesdale is to cowardly to reveal his sin, of secretly fathering Pearl, this is not to say that he does not feel the remorse of it. On the contrary, Dimmesdale is ridden with guilt. He cannot bring himself to reveal his actions, so instead he tortures himself in secret. Dimmesdale fasts till he almost faints, and whips himself till he bleeds. He is also haunted by Hester’s former Husband, Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth exacts revenge upon Dimmesdale, for impregnating his wife, by constantly trying to extract the truth from him. All of Dimmesdale’s pain, guilt, and shame are embodied in a brand on his chest that resembles the scarlet letter. The brand blazes causing Dimmesdale pain, and he believes it is an affliction sent by God. Throughout the book it is clear that Dimmesdale is feeling the retribution of his sin.