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How Did Arthur Dimmesdale Face The Sin Of Adultery

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Everyone on the Earth has some point done something in his or her life that was considered wrong. Some have chosen to face the consequences of their wrongdoing while others just live knowing that they did something wrong, facing the guilt and shame in silence. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale chose to not face his sin of adultery for more than seven years, instead battling with the guilt. Arthur Dimmesdale is conflicted between the truth that will free his conscious setting him free of guilt and his position as the seemingly perfect town reverend. Dimmesdale decides not to tell the townspeople of his wrong doing until the end of the novel after battling with the decision between these two things. Dimmesdale is …show more content…

Dimmesdale tortures himself by staying up all night practicing vigils and not taking care of his health. He is sleep deprived and a man named Roger Chillingworth make things worse. Dimmesdale is already in poor health when he starts to stay up all night doing vigils. Dimmesdale’s goal with all of his vigils and praying is to hopefully to get rid of his sin thereby freeing his conscious. He continually tries to purify himself, but comes to the conclusion that he “could not purify himself”. After this conclusion, Dimmesdale finds himself at the same platform where Hester was convicted of her sin at. He stands there thinking about everything that has happened to both him and Hester. When Pearl asks him if he will stand with them at noon, he is conflicted yet again thinking about the consequences of what that would lead too. He tells Pearl no, still wanting to keep his post as the town reverend. Dimmesdale thinks about this even more throughout the novel. When he meets with Hester and Pearl in the woods he comes to the conclusion that he needs to tell the truth to the townspeople with Hester and Pearl at his side. When Dimmesdale does tell the townspeople that he committed adultery they do not believe him. After failing to convince them, Dimmesdale dies with a heavy heart. Although, they don’t judge him as harshly as they did Hester. This illustrates that by not confessing your sin, you are only hurting yourself. Confessing up front and moving on and prevent lifetime of pain, bad health and a early death. His death comes suddenly, but his life could have been prolonged if he wouldn’t have hurt himself throughout the novel. Dimmesdale’s pain and choice to admit his sin illuminates the meaning of the novel even more than if he would have never confessed his

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

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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573 Words | 3 Pages

For seven years, Dimmesdale pretends he is innocent of adultery and gets praises for his faux act. Dimmesdale even says so himself that he feels extremely guilty and would rather share his crime than to keep it in secret. He obviously does not prefer sharing his crime with the public because he waits seven long years to do so. He was too obsessed with what others think and gossip about him.

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612 Words | 3 Pages

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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488 Words | 2 Pages

First, Dimmesdale’s sin getting revealed was foreshadowed and it sounded as if it had to be revealed in a certain way. While Dimmesdale was with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold, Pearl asked if he would stand with them the next day. To this he said, “Nay, not so, my little Pearl, not so my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow” (Hawthorne 99). If Dimmesdale was not worried about what the public would think once he revealed his sin, then he would have just stood their the next day and revealed it then.

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319 Words | 2 Pages

Erin Joel Mrs. Janosy English 2H P 5 22 October 2015 Quote Explication Dimmesdale is trying to overcome a conflict within his own soul, defying his own religion, and choosing to do wrong by keeping his sin to himself. In a theocracy type community like Dimmesdale's, God is known as the supreme civil ruler, and a crime would be known as a sin. On the other hand, Hester’s sin was made known to the public, receiving the public shame and ridicule she deserved. During the duration of time when the public knew Dimmesdale was hiding his sin, “the agony with which this public tortured him” (Hawthorne 119).

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178 Words | 1 Pages

Thesis: Dimmesdale, a naturally “dim” individual, neither has moral strength nor courage to face the consequences of his sin. I. Dimmesdale is completely “dim”, or unaware of Chillingworth’s true intentions toward him. A. Dimmesdale is continually tormented by guilt that is exacerbated by Chillingworth’s wicked, prying heart. B. Chillingworth harbors suspicions that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, and uses the friendly relationship he has with Dimmesdale to increase Dimmesdale’s mental anguish. II.

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523 Words | 3 Pages

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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778 Words | 4 Pages

Dimmesdale is consumed with so much guilt that the reverend started to punish the body God gives Dimmesdale for the sins committed. The Reverend believes that the punishment God is giving the reverend is to torturing the body given to Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale wants to expose the sins committed and live a life of truth just as Hester Prynne is living with her sins. Dimmesdale begins to envy Hester living a life of truth without having to punish the body God gives Hester, for the crime of adultery the woman commits with

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Which is more important, to admit one’s sins to the public or keep one’s faults to oneself? In this novel, it is better to admit to one's errors because it takes a lesser toll on one’s physical, mental, and spiritual state. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Dimmesdale, the clergyman, suffers the most pain because he hides his sin from the rest of the world. Dimmesdale shows physical signs of pain due to his inward suffering and guilt. As Hester pressures Dimmesdale to let her keep Pearl, Hester describes Dimmesdale’s appearance as, “careworn and emaciated” and “his large dark eyes had a world of pain in their troubled and melancholy depth”(133-134).

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1530 Words | 7 Pages

This guilt is built because of the overwhelming sense of religion in his life. He is expected to obtain his role as a minister in the community and as a follower of God. In the end, we see Dimmesdale confess on the scaffold that he is the one who had an affair because he was unable to take the guilt anymore.

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570 Words | 3 Pages

He then resorts to self inflicted pain and self punishment as a way to serve his sentence. All of Dimmesdale’s feelings are due to his own cowardice and inability to take blame. Unable to tell the truth,

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796 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the story, it is clear that he wants to confess his sin, when he is yelling at the scaffold at night but he’s too weak to do it publicly. The interactions between Hester and Dimmesdale show her hold over him because she has been publicly condemned for a sin that they had committed together. His inability to reveal and accept the truth makes him extremely weak. When Dimmesdale decides to reveal the truth during his Election Day speech, he passes away because he had waited too

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604 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his sacred office. He won it, indeed, in great part by his sorrows. (Hawthorne 128) The guilt of his sin has eaten him alive, so much that his visage and demeanor are almost cadaverous. Dimmesdale does not confess his sin until the end of the novel because he does not want to disappoint his congregation.

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686 Words | 3 Pages

As the moving of story, the “side effect” of the hidden sin has reveal. Dimmesdale become more sick and powerless. As the end of the story, Dimmesdale concede the sin and died as the winner of the fight with hidden sin. Dimmesdale as a combination of saint and sinner, his sin is not committed adultery, but it is that he cannot face the sin and admit it. He wanted to be all perfect in the eyes of the masses, but destroyed his perfectly in the eyes of God.

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480 Words | 2 Pages

Dimmesdale sinned with Hester Prynne by committing adultery. Although this was terrible and looked down upon, his crime was self inflicting and done out of passion. After Hester was punished for the crime, Dimmesdale was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. This showed that Dimmesdale was a good person

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