Dimmesdale's Unburdening

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

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