Dimmesdale's Hypocrisy In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy throughout the book can be seen in many of his words and actions. He says one thing in front of everyone, but does the opposite when faced with a similar challenge. Dimmesdale tells the people how sinful he is but then doesn’t admit his mistakes. He ends up paying the price for what he has done and the torture and guilt does not lessen as time goes on, it only grows. Dimmesdale is responsible for all of his actions, but feels pressured by others. A few times, he tries to tell the people that he is a terrible sinner but it did not come across. The townsfolk revere Dimmesdale even more and think that he is a great man. Part of the townspeople’s beliefs are brought about by the society and religion of the Puritans. Dimmesdale

Many beliefs of the Puritan religion are shown by Hawthorne in his book. The organized religion of the Puritans has both upsides and downsides to it, but in the book, it is mostly displayed as strict and does not seem to allow for any mistakes. It can be inferred that Hawthorn does not agree with the Puritan religion and does not believe in the same things. All of the townsfolk treat Hester as if she were less than human after she is tried for committing adultery. If not for the fact that she was with child, Hester would have been killed. The religion is also portrayed as being judgmental towards the so called “sinners”. The Puritans seem to have very strong feelings about these “sinners”. Hester and witches like Mistress Hibbins are outcasts in society because of this. The people are very quick to judge without even knowing what truly

Because of this expectation, Dimmesdale feels as though he is not good enough and that he is living a lie. He resorts to self-harm as a way of coping with his guilt, but that only makes it worse. His health declines drastically and he is not his usual self. He thinks he is telling the people of his sins, as seen in Chapter 14, but the message does not come across and the townsfolk only revere him more. The people still see him as the epitome of a good mentor and do not see the real person that he is. The townsfolk unintentionally pushes Dimmesdale deeper into guilt. The pressure of the townsfolk drives Dimmesdale to insanity and he cannot cope with the way he is living his life. Dimmesdale is responsible for his actions and the people did not purposefully put this burden on him. Dimmesdale pressures and puts the burden on himself by trying to be what the people see him as. He feels like his image would be destroyed if he told anyone what he had done and therefore resorts to his own methods of dealing with his sins without actually owning up to what he