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How Does Dimmesdale Change Throughout The Scarlet Letter

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Within the “Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Dimsdale to show how hiding a sin can destroy a person's life . Dimmesdale's character developed dramatically through the 7 year time period. His character traits such as religion pruty, respect ,changes ,and tragic hero transforms throughout the story . Primarily, Dimmesdale’s religion is a main component in his life .He is a minister which automatically grants him to heaven. The fear he has with god keeps him a well grounded person. “the magistrates are god fearing gentlemen ,but merciful church (Hawthorn p 49” Dimmesdale is an extremely religions man which makes committing a sin a suspenseful shocker. His job as a minister is to teach and encourage people to do good things in the eyes of god . He is an interpreter of the bible , DImmesdale's sin causes him to be a sinful man . “ the puritan of him which the devil claimed, and through he lost the win the rest (Hawthorne 19) . His religion is being weakened by the guilt of his secret sin. He how is losing his fear for god and letting the the devil encourage his life. the longer he hide the si the more wicked he become. The once god fearing dimmesdale is now a sinner. …show more content…

His life was cleansed of sin due to his spared virginity. dimsdale was once a generous pure man before he committed such a hurtful sin. he was looked up to because he was one individual who possessed purty . “ dimedale half frozen to death ,over whelmed with shame and standing where hester prynne had stood.(hawthorn p,) “DImmesdale is now a hypocrite for doing the same things he judged others for doing He stood in the same spot hester prynne stood for committing a sin with hm. He wanted to feel he was paying for his sins because he knows what he is doing is a very hateful thing. ironically a minister is standing on the scaffold of

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By not confessing to adultery, Dimmesdale retains his reputation, but at the cost of his soul. As a religious leader within the Puritan community, Dimmesdale must exhibit a moral example. Internalizing his guilt offers him a method of maintaining that position. Dimmesdale appears as “pure as new-fallen snow,” (84), but still hidden within him is his sin (84).

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

In the book The scarlet letter , Nathaniel Hawthorne questions the reader by questioning whether it is okay to punish sinners since we all have committed sins. Scarlet letter takes place in massachustes in new england in the time of colonization of the new world.at the time massachustes is very religious and the church has alot of power over the people, they control almost evry aspect of their life and punish thoose who commit sins. Dimmesdale is the head of the church in salem massachusetts and he is defined by how people admired him and how people liked him, this traits affect the theme and other characters in the story because it makes dimmesdale look pure and sin free making people make wrong assumption and decisions when it come to dimmesdale. At the beginning of the book Dimmesdale is liked by his community and is well respected.

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

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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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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By including this quote, Hawthorne lets the audience know how Dimmesdale is perceived as a morally sound and judicious clergyman in the eyes of others, such as fellow clergymen. This introduction glorifies Dimmesdale as a leader and a man who has the gift of eloquence and

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Dimmesdale has no moral strength because of his sin. A. Dimmesdale continues to serve as town minister even though he had committed adultery with Hester Prynne. B. Dimmesdale tortures himself to repay for his

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Many characters from The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, changed throughout the progression of the novel, — including Chillingworth, Hester, and even Pearl herself. No character, however, has changed as much as Dimmesdale has. Towards the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale tries to ignore his sinful actions. Near the middle of the book, the clergyman, with the ‘help’ of Chillingworth, is able to realize his wrongdoings, and starts obsessively thinking of those wrongdoings. Around the end of the novel, with the help of the forest’s freedom, is able to finally repent correctly for his sin.

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1057 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne keeps his main focus on the character’s development and how they change/grow throughout the novel. Reverend Dimmesdale was a crucial character all throughout this novel. Dimmesdale, among other characters, showed much change, referring to the way he began to react towards other citizens, and growth, referring to his outcome at the end of the novel. There was abundant self-hate, irony, and guilt within Dimmesdale. Reverend Dimmesdale was a leader of the community, but also a sinner.

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In 1964, Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist introduced the idea that humans evolved through different stages of morality. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne male characters exemplify a moral development as the story unfolds. In particular, Arthur Dimmesdale’s morality differs from the beginning of the novel to the ending of the novel. His morality undergoes continuity and change by constantly changing from selfishness, social order, and social contract. Dimmesdale undergoes the morality maintaining the social order and being considerate of others to eventually being selfish and only thinks about himself.

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He knew that the sin he committed held him down and kept him from living a prosperous life. With this, he sought to fix “earth’s heaviest burden on them” (Hawthorne 195) by finding his true self. Dimmesdale wanted to lose this burden, but needed to find his true self. He, the only one to transform himself, pursued a higher quality existence. Because of “the minister’s own will” (Hawthorne 198), he could escape the torment from his moral maze.

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1262 Words | 6 Pages

Outside of Hester's prison cell is a mob of gossipers who speak on the impact of Hester's sin on Dimesdale. Unknown to them, Hester's sin had far more of an impact on the beloved minister than the congregation could realize through their scrutiny. While talking about the adultery sin of Hester, the gossipers state that “Dimmesdale, her godly pastor,” took her sin “very grievously to the heart” (Hawthorne 44). After Hester is shown and mocked upon the scaffolding, Dimmesdale is introduced to be a man of “eloquence and religious fervor” (55). Hawthorne's initial depiction of Reverend Dimmesdale is used to express who he is in the eyes of the people.

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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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890 Words | 4 Pages

Aiden Christianson Pugmire/Maack 11th Grade ELA 1/10/2023 Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” is a novel talking about the puritan lifestyle, and how seriously they took their society. This story delves into themes of “hypocrisy” and “sin”, the biggest offender being Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is the biggest hypocrite in this story, he committed adultery alongside Hester, but he stayed anonymous, keeping his job as the Puritan minister. He kept preaching about Puritan beliefs even though he himself was a sinner.

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1098 Words | 5 Pages

Hawthorne chose him to demonstrate a moral throughout the story that sin is not the final verdict and Dimmesdale lives his life trying to fulfill this thought. Dimmesdale is taken along a treacherous path of emotional events and physical punishments which suck the life from his body and soul. Consequently, Dimmesdale cannot choose to live a life free from his sin and folds to become the prisoner of the sin which eventually leads to his death. Conclusively, throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale is seen to be a man of evil, but after extensive research Hawthorne is shown to use Dimmesdale to teach a moral lesson through the effects of sin in order to show the crime is not just a physical experience, but also a mental journey, in which provides a chain of events that are moldable for future

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The Scarlet Letter Essay Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale were two of the main sinners in The Scarlet Letter. Both characters kept their sins secrete throughout the story. These sins included adultery, revenge, and even murder. Out of the two sinners, Chillingworth was the worst, because he never felt guilt for the terrible things he was doing. Dimmesdale spent his entire life in guilt and remorse for the sins he had committed (“Who”).

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