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Dimmesdale's Unburdening

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In life, unhealthy unburdening will lead to an inevitable demise. The only unknown is whether the person or a toxic environment around oneself is the cause. In the Scarlet Letter Hawthorne writes Dimmesdale as a beloved minister who is sinfully in love with Hester Prynne a wife, a mother, and an outsider in the eyes of the townspeople. Dimmesdale and Hester have a daughter Pearl, who’s born out of sin due to Hester’s pre-existing marriage to a man named Chillingworth, a “doctor” who is often referred to as a leech due to his fiend ways. The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, a town that contains generations of people who have been groomed to repress and never express. Dimmesdale’s demise was caused by his own disburdening, Hawthorne …show more content…

While Dimmesdale’s mental state could be partially blamed on the repressiveness of his environment there is no one other than Dimmesdale to blame his physical torture on. He keeps a whip in his locked closet and often “plie[s] it on his own shoulders; laughing bitterly at himself” (Hawthorne 120). Dimmesdale has become so mentally detached from himself that he now feels the need to punish his mind through punishing his body. This separation of mind and body is causing him to feel a lose of control only making him want to whip himself harder to give himself a temporary feeling of control. Dimmesdale also often puts his hand on his heart which is thought to be a symbol of how his love for Hester is causing his heart pain. This is disproved when Chillingworth “tore away the ministerial band from before [Dimmesdale’s] breast” (Hawthorne 209). It is inferred that under the band is the branded A and is now understood that every time Dimmesdale reached for his heart he was reaching for the A. He did this to feel some type of relief for his guilt. Knowing that he forever had the scarlet letter on his breast allowed him to express his shame privately. This offered Dimmesdale momentary relief but also played as a constant reminder of the sin he’s kept

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He was suffering from chest pain because of the secret he was hiding from the Puritan society. He was dying every day from inside because he could not carry the weight of his sin. He was totally consumed by guilt; his “form grew emaciated; his voice ...... his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of plain” ( Hawthorne 13 ). This quote shows that Dimmesdale’s guilt had an impact on his health.

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Everyone comes across something in their life that speaks to them--a symbol as it will be called. In the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many symbols, but there is one that really stands out above the rest, and that is the mark on Dimmesdale’s chest. The Scarlet Letter’s primary focus is on the life of Hester Prynne, who had an affair with someone and was accused of the crime and forced to wear a scarlet letter A for the rest of her life. The mark on Arthur Dimmesdale’s chest (although it was never truly stated what the mark actually was) can be seen as guilt in physical form which slowly begins to show over time.

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits a mortal sin by having an affair with a married woman, Hester Prynne. As a man of the cloth in Puritan society, Dimmesdale is expected to be the embodiment of the town’s values. He becomes captive to a self-imposed guilt that manifests from affair and his fear that he won’t meet the town’s high expectations of him. In an attempt to mitigate this guilt, Dimmesdale acts “piously” and accepts Chillingworth’s torture, causing him to suffer privately, unlike Hester who repented in the eyes of the townspeople. When Dimmesdale finally reveals his sin to the townspeople, he is able to free himself from his guilt.

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His "treatment" for Dimmesdale’s illness only makes Dimmesdale weaker, which is his ultimate revenge. Since the truth about the sin is concealed, Chillingworth is successful in torturing Dimmesdale. Another symptom of Dimmesdale’s hurt is guilt. He knows the truth, and since society does not punish him, because they do not know the truth, he feels that he needs to punish himself by whipping himself with a "bloody scourge" and fasts "until his knees trembled beneath him" (150). This unknown, physical and self-induced punishment is harsh, but since he is too self-concealed to revel his sin, Dimmesdale accepts

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The reader is especially made aware of Dimmesdale's mental state in the eleventh chapter, “His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred” [150]. This suggests that he is racked with immense guilt and shame at the falsehood he is living and suggests that he is physically abusing himself as a result of this guilt. This directly contradicts Chillingworth's mental state of fury and vengeance that he falls deeper into as the story progresses. These two characters also hold striking incongruities as to what drives them onward as the account

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“Why, then, had he come hither? Was it but the mockery of penitence? A mockery, indeed, but in which his soul trifled with itself. He had been driven higher by the impulse of that Remorse which dogged him everywhere” (Hawthorne 138) here dimmesdale can 't face the justice of what he has done wrong which is why the author called him a coward and is the reason why he kept his secrets because he is a coward to admit it to and face the consequences which is why later the guilt of keeping them eats him from the inside.

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In the book The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the transgressions of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale and the consequences of adultery and revenge. Roger Chillingworth, a physician and the secret spouse of Hester, torments Dimmesdale to his death. There is a substantial amount of evidence that Chillingworth’s sin is greater than the minister’s; but in reality, Dimmesdale has committed the greater sin. The common perspective is that Chillingworth commits a tremendous sin by torturing Arthur Dimmesdale to the verge of death.

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In the book The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrated Dimmesdale suffering and regret over the years that build him up and lead him to many obstacles and challenges that killed him in the inside. Also, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the agony of Dimmesdale`s conscience as his guilt that is eating away at him until he confesses. In addition, Dimmesdale’s faces many obstacles and challenges that killed him and eat him from the inside. For example, of a challenge that he faces is not confessing to Hester Prynne up front to the townsfolks that he was Hester partner in the affairs. Another example is that when Hester walk up on stage and confess that she was responsible for the adultery and while she was talking, she has

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Dimmesdale starts living with Chillingworth so the doctor can keep the feeble minister ‘healthy’; the doctor, reversely, tries to make Dimmesdale feel conflicted about his morals which leads to Dimmesdale obsessively whipping himself “...on his own shoulders” and“... fast[ing]...in order to purify [his] body… rigorously...until his knees trembled beneath him[self]...” (132). He is enveloped in his sin, and cannot escape it unless he tells the truth. In fact, Dimmesdale could not stop thinking about his sin which “...continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence [which] was the anguish in his inmost soul” (133).

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1177 Words | 5 Pages

Cause & Effect “There are Devilish thoughts even in the most angelic minds. ”- Rachel Wolchin. This perfectly describes Dimmesdale within the Puritan society.

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1368 Words | 6 Pages

Hawthorne shows how the guilt and sin have overcome Dimmesdale, which will lead to his death. Hawthorne’s word choice with this line shows how Dimmesdale must die following the terrible actions he has committed and not owning up to any of them. With this curt word choice, he is able to show how Dimmesdale must die for hiding the truth and how this overwhelming guilt has taken over him altogether. Dimmesdale internal guilt with himself continues to build and eventually leads him to his death, while Hester’s public guilt and shame does not affect her as greatly and she is able to continue with her life in an easier way than Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is shown on the Scaffold looking at Hester and Pearl with “a ghastly look” on his face, but was also said to be “tender and strangely triumphant in it” (206).

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1270 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne exposes the blindness of the Puritan people through the treatment of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale’s external characters. Hester Prynne is labeled as an adulteress and mistreated by society because of their unwillingness to see her true character. Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, leads the town to believe he is an honorable man and skillful doctor, when his true intents root from his vindictive nature Finally, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and the father of her baby, acts as the perfect man therefore the town views him as an exemplar model, while he is truly a sinner. In the novel, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a strong, resilient woman, though the members of her community

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878 Words | 4 Pages

The book “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex novel that has underlying themes of sin and the responsibility for sin. The novel takes place in a Puritanical society, but two people, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, fornicate with each other, even though Hester is married to someone else. Only Hester is punished, so Dimmesdale keeps his guilt inside, not revealing it to anyone. Hester’s husband, Chillingworth, then proceeds to ruin Hester’s partner in crime, corrupting his soul and being the ultimate cause for his death. Hester, on the other hand, leads a relatively happy life after she had repented for her sin.

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604 Words | 3 Pages

He knows that if he reveals what he has done, then his followers will lose their respect for him. He is burdened with his sin; therefore, he inflicts pain upon himself for his wrongdoing. Dimmesdale goes as far as having vigils all night, being tortured by “diabolic shapes,” and emaciating and whipping himself. Dimmesdale punishes himself because he wants to repent for the sin that he has committed.

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852 Words | 4 Pages

In being a very emotional character, the mood that surrounds changes constantly. Switching from depressing, to selfless, to leaving, Hawthorne manipulates the tone of the chapter depending on what he’s going through and how he feels. The most significant moment where readers feel this sense of relief is the scene in which he admits to his sin and claims his child. In this moment Dimmesdale exclaims ‘e, that have loved me!—ye, that have deemed me holy!—behold me here, the one sinner of the world” (Hawthorne, chapter 23) to express his regret for not coming forward much earlier. After much anticipation, he stops being a coward and takes ownership of the situation, allowing readers to finally feel at peace with the situation.

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