In Mr. Dimmesdale's Guilt In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

As human beings, we experience many different emotions everyday. However, there is one emotion that can lead us to lie to both ourselves and others. Although many people experience situations differently, we all have come across this emotion. It can make one angry and aggressive. This emotion can also cause one to lack self-esteem and even cause one to experience suicidal thoughts. This emotion is known as guilt. Guilt is shown as a recurring theme in both Fifth Business and in Hamlet.

Guilt and shame can be overwhelming for an individual and it is seemingly impossible to find peace, even after they return

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, proves to be a sinner against man, against God and most importantly against himself because he has committed adultery with Hester Prynne, resulting in an illegitimate child, Pearl. His sinning against himself, for which he ultimately paid the

A person without the knowledge of his or her past is like a tree without its roots-they both can’t survive. A sense of morality is one of the virtues that humans keep closest to them (or at least what they tell themselves). In people’s minds, if they lose their code of ethics--their identity or their sense of self--they wouldn’t be able to wake up the next morning with a good conscience. However, life has made morality one of the hardest virtues for humans to preserve; even each day, an individual has to make a plethora of decisions that can either strengthen their moral compass or derail them from the code of ethics. Although people hold onto their sense of morality as a foundation of their constitution, it is one of the easiest things for

Unacknowledged Shame Theory is seen in a perspective that shame can cause a destructive emotion and can promote crime instead of preventing it if it is not managed positively. By using apology in return for forgiveness symbolises that reparation can commence (Braithwaite, 2004).

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main characters have different kinds of burdens to carry depending on their level of ownership over their actions and identity. Dimmesdale has the worst burden to bear because he did not own up to his actions until the very end, Hester has to adjust to the punishment that the Puritans gave her, and Pearl has no burden because she is honest. Throughout the novel, they face different obstacles that contribute to their everyday lives that makes it hard to process everything at once. It’s also to show how the characters were able to face the problems and deal with them

When one does wrong, the common reaction is to hide it and pretend as if nothing happened. Because of the human conscience it is difficult to completely forget about a wrongdoing. Through our conscience guilt is built up and eventually that guilt shatters enough

The final three chapters of the story are when things start to intensify. Chapter twenty-two opens on the ceremony when Dimmesdale is telling the best speech of his career, but he doesn’t look one eye at Hester. Did he not mean what he said in the woods? Does he not really love her? Somehow Master Hibbins finds out about Dimmesdale crimes and tells Hester that he has been marked internally. At the end of his speech Dimmesdale calls Hester and Pearl up to the stage. Finally, he confesses his sin and undying love for Hester and Pearl, I feel as if he has finally come to peace with his guilt and that he can finally live his final days in peace and with a free conscience. Unfortunately, his final days do not last but a few minutes and he dies.

Due to the fact the Dimmsdale neglects that he is the father of Pearl it leds him to have agonizing guilt. In the story, every time Pearl and Dimmesdale are in the same room or spot at the same time it seems he, “. . . to press his hand against his heart (Hawthorne 83).” This is a sign of the pain that he feels in his chest is festering inside of him every time that he is seen near Pearl. Guilt is normally held within the chest and due to the fact that he is feeling so much guilt and pain; he decides to carve a letter “A” into his chest to signifi the actual guilt and pain he feels around Pearl. When Pearl and Dimmesdale are in the woods together and he leans down and kisses her and pearl wipes it off the kiss. This makes him realize that Pearl

No individual desires to feel ashamed or distressed. Taking responsibility for past actions might make someone feel as so. People often try to dismiss themselves from their issues, most often by creating excuses. They cannot escape reality forever. Excuses build barriers between people and what they strive to achieve, opening the door to ruined potential.

Since the creation of living things, more specifically, people. Humans have learned to evoke remorse and shame for one’s misguided decisions. In Genesis 2, the story of creation, it states that Adam and Eve were both originally naked, "but they were not ashamed." Only after they ate form the Tree of Knowledge, we are told that "the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked." Furthermore, scripture exhibits to the world, about how after a forbidden effort is committed, the conscience of person begins to contemplate and comprehend the consequences of one’s maneuvers.

The Scarlet Letter is a novel with the theme of sin. Throughout the life of a human being, everyone is guilty of sinning. The sin can be major, or minor, and can have a positive or negative effect on a person’s life and character. A cruel punishment may be the result of a major sin, and a fair warning may be the result of a minor sin. In the Scarlet Letter three of the main characters committed a sin which changed each of their lives drastically.

God does not like the sin of adultery. He does not like lying. He does not like hypocrisy. There are two roads that one can choose. In the end, what may seem like the easy way may have far greater consequences than the hard way. Arthur Dimmesdale chose the easy path and learned that the pain of guilt is far greater than the pain of shame.

Guilt, shame, and penitence are just a few of the emotions that are often associated with a great act of sin. Mr. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly respected minister of a 17th century Puritan community, is true example of this as he was somehow affected by all of these emotions after committing adultery. Due to the seven years of torturous internal struggle that finally resulted in his untimely death, Mr. Dimmesdale is the character who suffered the most throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s ever present guilt and boundless penance cause him an ongoing mental struggle of remorse and his conscience as well as deep physical pain from deprivation and self inflicted wounds. The external influence of the members of

1. After watching Brad Anderson’s film ‘The Machinist’ I thought about how denial, paranoia, and guilt can become part of an unhealthy cycle in which we refuse to confront our mistakes. In our denial of an act, we try to put up a wall in which we can hide behind, but our underlying guilt can often creep up on us no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves otherwise. This can often lead people to alter their perception of reality rather than face the truth and with such repressed feelings paranoia can set in. 2.