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. Over the 7 years between the start of the novel and the death of Dimmesdale, he continues to give his sermons, gaining more popularity as time goes on, while Hester is paying for both of their crimes. …show more content…
This quote also works for guilt alongside hypocrisy “Be not silent because thou wouldst protect him. It would be better for him to step down from any high place he might hold, and stand beside thee on thy pedestal of shame.”(p.21) He is trying to tell Hester to announce that he is responsible for this as much as he is. He wants to be down there with her but because of his status he cannot make that decision. In the last few chapters after Dimmesdale and Pearl meet in the forest, we see that The minister's glow and passion were nothing like they were, it was all gone. “Yet Dimmesdale himself was a mere shrunken shell of the person he had once been. The glow of passion and fervor that had reddened his cheek in the meeting house was gone. Now his cheeks were chalk, and his face looked more like a deathmask than a living thing”(p.142) His guilt builds up tremendously throughout the story, causing him to even inflict self harm in the form of “The Scourge” a whip with many threads that had sharp edges, used as corporal punishment, or self inflicted by members of church for spiritual discipline. “Night after night, as he undressed for bed, the minister would take the scourge down from the wall of the water closet, lashing himself time and time again, feeling the razor edged metal starts shredding his flesh, rejoicing in the pain.”(p.71). His guilt ran so deep that he ended up worsening his health with self harm, hastening …show more content…
“And Dimmesdale, with a powerful single motion, tore open his shirt with both hands, bearing his chest to the onlookers. And it was revealed, but it would be disrespectful to describe it. The horror stricken crowd gazed upon the ghastly mark while the minister’s face shone with exultant triumph.”(p.144). We can only assume what was on the Reverends chest was another scarlet letter, resembling that of Hester's. This may be the reason Dimmesdale is described to have his hand over his heart over the course of the story. A hint to what was shone in his chest is foreshadowed in chapter 10. “He reached down, unbuttoned Dimmesdale’s shirt, and drew it open, bearing the chest. Chillingwoth sucked in his breath, and his eyes widened.”(p.67) Chillingworth was the first person to see what was on Dimmesdale's chest, and this then led to the torment he would then put upon Dimmesdale throughout the rest of the book, because thanks to the mark he confirmed that Dimmesdale was the father of Hester’s child. Dimmesdale’s guilt also caused him to confess on the scaffold where Hester stood at the beginning of the novel. This being the end of his journey of guilt and torture, he most likely knew he was not going to make it much longer, even if he left with Hester and Pearl to Europe like they had planned, so he wanted to be able to stand with her in front of everybody,