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Comparing Hester And Dimmesdale In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

616 Words3 Pages

In the book The Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale both have sinned and they both were about of it. There are two people to make a child so it's not just Hester's fault at all. She saves Dimmesdale by not telling anyone who the father of Pearl is, and for that Dimmesdale he has to leave with knowing the father of Pearl is himself, and having no one knowing that it is him. Hester is dealing with the sin, she made with Dimmesdale, well because she knows the truth about everything and everyone knows what she has done. She wants the towns people to know what she has been. The towns people gave her an A to wear on her chest to show everyone what she has been. The A stands for adultery, and by the middle of the book she's proud of the letter. When she was given the letter to wear she designed it to be classy so she could be proud and wear it everyday like she was suppose to. Everyone thought so was just mocking the letter. When Pearl grow up Hester started to dress her like that Letter A just like the one on Hester's chest. …show more content…

Everyday, he has to deal what he has been because he sees Pearl and Hester a lot because they live in the same town and after the governors house have to watch over then making sure Pearl goes to school and is being good. Dimmesdale has suffer more then Hester also because Hester is openly shunned by everyone in the town while Dimmesdale is ashamed with himself on the inside and that is where the guilt comes from. The guild has started to controlled him, and Dimmesdale starts to get really sick and that's because Chillingworth has found out that he is the father and that he has not told anyone and Chillingworth wants

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Although while she embodies, Hester’s wild side, she also represents the sin that she committed to create her. Pearl is the reason she has the scarlet “A” on her clothes. In first scaffold scene, Hester hides her scarlet “A” by shielding it with Pearl, irony was prevalent, as she was hiding what literally called her an adulterer, with something that symbolized her being an

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Hester went to plead that the officials of the town leave Pearl in her care and not take her away to be raised by any one else. When it seems that Hester is losing this battle she asks Dimmesdale to speak in her defense which he does quite passionately. This desire to protect the mother and daughter bond of Hester and Pearl is what seems to draw Pearl to approach Dimmesdale and take “his hand in the grasp of both her own…” and lay “her cheek against it; a caress so tender…” (The Scarlet Letter, Chapter VIII) Dimmesdale’s defense and Pearl’s reaction are two cues that lead the reader to begin seeing the truth of who Pearl’s father

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Mentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and

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Dimmesdale and Hester suffers because of the sin they did. Dimmesdale feels guilt even though he never confesses that he is the farther. He would go to the scaffold at night and stand there screaming trying to get the people to come outside to see him but it was just all in his head when she would stand on the scaffold during the day with the red A on her chest she felt guilt even though she would not tell anyone who the farther is and for having an affair while her husband was missing for years. For example, Dimmesdale does not want to confess about his sin because he does not want to face the consequences. This is illustrated when Dimmesdale says, “then and there before the judgment-seat, thy mother and thou, and I must stand together” (Dimmesdale 139).

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In Chapter 9 Hester and Pearl were going out to the forest to meet up with Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has not found peace, only but pain and sadness. Even though Hester was suppose to keep secrets she told Dimmesdale right in his face that the doctor Chillingworth was Hester’s husband, then she went on and told Dimmesdale all about the doctor that she was suppose to keep a secret. Hester took off the scarlet letter and called out for Pearl to say that the minister was her father. She reacted very different because she wanted to be a public thing not a secret.

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In the chapter, “Revelation of the Scarlet Letter”, Hester and the crowd listen intently to Dimmesdale's confession of being the biological father of little Pearl. He quotes, “in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what--for my own heavy sin and miserable agony--I withheld myself from doing seven years ago, come hither now, and twine thy strength about me!” By doing so he tells the entire multitude about his true selfhood. Pearl then gives him a kiss for confessing. Continuing, he states, “is not this better,” murmured he, ”than what we dreamed of in the forest?”

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At first, it is evident Hester is mindful of Pearl’s father, since she will not reveal who is, an act that would submit him to shame as well. Hester isolates herself in sin; therefore, she isolates herself in the distant cottage. When Governor Bellingham attempts to move Pearl elsewhere, Hester knows she can depend on Dimmesdale to convince him otherwise because Dimmesdale is the father. Because Dimmesdale has assisted her, Hester concludes “there lay a responsibility upon her, in reference to the clergyman” (Hawthorne 125). Likewise, when they are by the brookside, it is confessed Hester “still so passionately” loves Dimmesdale.

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In the beginning of the novel when Hester Prynne is standing on the scaffold, she is enduring her punishment alone for their sin. Because Dimmesdale is the town’s minister, he asks Hester to confess the name of the father of her child. She says, “I will not speak!” He even says that Hester should confess the father of her child’s name because the father will only “add hypocrisy to sin” if he does not confess. He is trying to get Hester to admit to his sin, so that he will not have to do this.

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Due to the fact that Dimmesdale and Hester could not even ignore their initial attraction, the passion that carries throughout their relationship is undeniable. The love they posses for one another only grows stronger as their community and religion constantly reiterates how the should not be together. Not only having admiration for one other, once their child come into the world, they both carry intense amounts of devotion towards keeping it safe. Though Dimmesdale is scared to admit, it is adamant to readers that he cares for her even more so than himself. As Pearl faces the same shame as her parents, such as being called “an imp of evil, emblem and product of sin" (Hawthorne, 129), her need for care and attention grows larger.

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Hester faced daily ostracization and ignominy while Dimmesdale was revered as a holy and pure being. In public functions, Hester was never associated with. This is evident in the quote, “As was usually the case wherever Hester stood, a small, vacant area—a sort of magic circle—had formed itself about her, into which, though the people were elbowing one another at a little distance, none ventured, or felt disposed to intrude. It was a forcible type of the moral solitude in which the scarlet letter enveloped its fated wearer… by the instinctive, though no longer so unkindly, withdrawal of her fellow-creatures” ( ) Hester’s fellow townspeople recognize Hester as a good person, but because her sins were revealed, they shun and exclude her. In contrast, Dimmesdale is thoroughly loved and cherished as he has not confessed to his misdemeanors.

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Hester being a woman- Hester has to have her secrete told and she could not hide from sin or was not awarded the option to find salvation by herself because she was a Puritan woman. Because she is the one that got pregnant as result of sin she had not time to hide from her sin and no option. Being a woman she also faced much harsher judgements than Dimmesdale did or would have if he came forth with the truth at the time when the scandal was all the hype. Hester was not given an opportunity to hide from her sin nor was she awarded the convenient timing of confessing Dimmesdale did.

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The bible said “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Hester and Dimmesdale both fell short of the glory of God but, that does not mean they should BE executed or punished for their sins any longer. They both endured a lot of suffering for their sins and did not deserve any more, they both confessed and took responsibility for it. They are forgiven. For example, In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne wrote, “Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” The consequences of her actions will show their face to remind her of what happened, especially Pearl’s birth, it acts as a charitable mistake that they will always have bearing down on them.

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Adultery was such a terrible sin to be committed in mid-seventeenth century, especially within the puritan community. Hester wanted to protect the father of her child because she knew that if everyone found out Dimmesdale was the other part taker in this crime then, they both would have been killed but Dimmesdale, being the minister, helped and saved her by letting her off easy, thus wearing the scarlet as her punishment. When she first realizes what the letter is capable of, she does not like it and is ashamed for herself. The townspeople would treat her very differently as well as talk rudely about her. In chapter twenty one, the narrator states, “Her face, so long familiar to the townspeople, showed the marble quietude which they were accustomed to behold there.

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The war between the states as in the civil war, pitted neighbor against neighbor. By the time it ended the confederate surrender in 1865. The civil war proved to be the coolest war ever fought in america as in the whole world. With 2.4 million soldiers killed, millions more injured. The population and territory of the south devastated.

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Pearl is a symbol of the scarlet letter. She was born due to adultery, which is the same reason as to why Hester wears the scarlet letter A. In chapter 7, Pearl is coincidentally put into a red tunic, “...arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic … and flourishes of gold-thread” (Hawthorne 92), which makes Hester realize that she is the human version of the scarlet letter. By Hester realizing this, it shows to the reader that Pearl can be a “sin” and a “blessing” all at the same time.

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