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Dimmesdale's Development In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Scarlet Letter’s Development The Scarlet Letter is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and has many different central ideas. Some of those central ideas are hypocrisy, sin, revenge, guilt, and conformity. Dimmesdale, the town being full of hypocritical individuals, and Dimmesdale committing adultery to reveal how Dimmesdale has to conform to how the town sees him, while the guilt is ruining his health. Hawthorne conveys the central idea that sin creates guilt, which creates secrets and conformity by Dimmesdale being a minister who has committed adultery and will not confess that he did. The Scarlet Letter states in chapter fourteen, “He has felt an influence dwelling away upon him like a curse.” (Page 118) This piece of evidence shows how …show more content…

Hawthorne displays how the forest holds all the secrets, and anyone that enters the forest does not have to conform to the way that everyone else views them while their there. This is shown by Dimmesdale and Hester meeting in the forest to speak to one another. The Scarlet Letter’s chapter twenty proclaims, “Another man had returned out of the forest; a wiser one; with a knowledge of hidden mysteries which the simplicity of the former never could have reached .” (Page 153) This piece of evidence shows that the forest holds many secrets, and one of those many secrets was Dimmesdale and Hester’s plan of leaving the town. The Scarlet Letter displays this in chapter twenty, “In order to free his mind from this indistinctness and duplicity of impression, which vexed it with a strange disquietude, he recalled and more thoroughly defined the plans which Hester and himself had sketched for their departure.” (Page 147) Through the town being where sinners are ridiculed Hawthorne shows how the town is full of hypocritical individuals, who Dimmesdale had to conform to. Chapter twenty of The Scarlet Letter states, “As he drew near the town, he took an impression of change from the series of familiar objects that presented themselves.” (Page 148) This reveals that Dimmesdale had to conform to how the townspeople saw him, which is a minister who does not sin or do

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In The Scarlet Letter, the strictly Puritan townspeople of Boston view sin as the ultimate and most irredeemable offense. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly revered minister among the people of Boston, refrains from confessing his adultery to the public for the entirety of seven years. Throughout this expanse of time, Dimmesdale rises to the ministerial pulpit on hundreds of occasions to tell “his hearers that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity,” but on each occasion, he refuses to fully disclose the details of the sin he has committed (Hawthorne 99). Dimmesdale omits this aspect, fearing that the truth of his adultery will irreversibly destroy the public’s view of his character and his status as minister. Upon the revelation of the scandalous truth, his entire congregation could turn away from him, leading Dimmesdale to withhold the details in hopes maintaining his following.

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