ipl-logo

Evolution Of Reverend Dimmesdale In The Scarlett Letter

826 Words4 Pages

Evolution of Reverend Dimmesdale One quote by Dave Grohl, “Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, and destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief,” The feeling of guilt is one that may leave others in sorrow and despair. Without confessing what one has done will eventually lead to a life of fear, nervousness, and insecurity. Within the novel The Scarlett Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne gives a good representation of how secret sin will destroy the sinner, which is then shown by the change in character by Reverend Aurthur Dimmesdale. Within The Scarlett Letter Dimmesdale evolves because of the sin that he has committed. First off, in the beginning the start of The Scarlett Letter Dimmesdale is stated to be nervous …show more content…

With Dimmesdale being able to live with his sin his condition becomes exceptionally better, “The excitement of Mr. Dimmesdale feelings as he returned from his interview with Hester, lent him unaccustomed physical energy and hurried him town ward at a rapid pace. The pathway among the woods seemed wilder more uncouth with its rude natural obstacles and less trodden by the foot of man than he remembered it on his outward journey,” (Hawthorne 148). When he returned to the town and gave his last sermon before he left for England, he saw Chillingsworth within the crowd. Dimmesdale then knew what he had to do in front of all the towns’ people, “God’s eye beheld it! The angels were forever pointing at it! The devil knew it well, and fretted continually with the touch of his burning finger! But he hid it cunningly from men, and walked among you with mien spirit, He bids you look again at Hester’s Scarlett Letter! What he bears on his own chest,” (Hawthorne 174). From these final words Dimmesdale then passes away while on the scaffold. On his chest was the mark that Hester wore, the difference is that Hester confessed her sin and bore it on her clothing. When Dimmesdale kept it hidden from everyone else it consumed him and put the mark on his body, symbolizing that secret sin will destroy the sinner. During the story of the Scarlett Letter Reverend Aurthur evolves because of the sin that he had committed. Therefore within the book he started off as a nervous and startled man, which then leads him into getting sick from the guilt inside him, and finally leads him to confess his sin, that came with a price. Guilt is an emotion that can consume someone if it were cancer. Luckily there is confession where anyone can lose their

Show More
Related

How Did Arthur Dimmesdale Believe In The Scarlet Letter

935 Words | 4 Pages

One spontaneous but significant mistake made by Arther Dimmesdale caused him to live the rest of his life crawling with guilt. Arthur Dimmesdale, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, had an affair with a married woman, and that crime ruined the lives of almost everyone in the novel. The Scarlet Letter remains a classic to this day because it emphasizes harsh penance which highlights the difference between the treatment of sinners today and those during the 17th century. The way Puritans view sin and guilt cause Dimmesdale’s life to come to an unfortunate end.

Read More

Who Is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

693 Words | 3 Pages

Dimmesdale, despairing of life, told Chillingworth that “[he] could be well content, that [his] labors, and [his] sorrows, and [his] sins, and [his] pains, should shortly end with [him], and what is earthly of them be buried in [his] grave”(83).

Read More

Dimmesdale's Sorrowful Nature In The Scarlet Letter

147 Words | 1 Pages

In order to reveal Dimmesdale's sorrowful nature. Hawthorne describes the different actions the poor minister takes in order to attempt to atone for his sins such as “[fasting]” and his use of a “bloody scourge” he genuinely believed that this would help to purify himself of his sins and to relieve the burden that he was forced to bear upon his shoulders, however his attempts to atone ultimately lead to even more torment. Hawthorne discloses this by describing Dimmesdale’s visions of the “herd of diabolic shapes, that grinned and mocked at the pale minister” this further reveals the utter anguish that he is going through another example of this is the vision of his mother “turning her face away as she passed by” the emotional

Read More

Scarlet Letter By Arthur Dimmesdale

778 Words | 4 Pages

Dimmesdale presumes, “That my labours, and my sorrows, and my sins, and my pains, should shortly end with me, and what is earthly of them be buried in my grave, and the spiritual go with me to my eternal state, rather than that you should put your skill to the proof in my behalf.” As mentioned before, the truth always comes out and Dimmesdale is naive to think the townspeople can be deceived into having a perfect image of the Reverend. Arthur Dimmesdale is the image of a reverend on the path to heaven but, after the sins committed, becomes a man of hypocrisy. Dimmesdale believes dying with the sins would end the transgressions, however, the Reverend soon finds out that the soul and body of Dimmesdale would be tortured into revealing the

Read More

Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

646 Words | 3 Pages

In the story The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the character Dimmesdale demonstrates that hiding guilt and sin only leads to self- loathing and that it may be easier to exhibit guilt rather than conceal it. In the beginning of the story, Hawthorne describes a scene in which Hester stands on the scaffold in front and of a large crowd. “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A ” (Hawthorne 48). As Hester walked to the scaffold everyone focused the A displayed on her chest.

Read More

Arthur Dimmesdale's Guilt Quotes

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

Read More

The Guilt Of Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

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).

Read More

Juxtaposition In Scarlet Letter

140 Words | 1 Pages

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, one of the protagonists of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, stands as a highly conflicted character. The source of his divide stems from the consequences of private sins, and is prevalent within the first paragraphs of Chapter 12, “The Minister’s Vigil,” where the narration chronicles Dimmesdale’s surroundings as he dream walks through the town in a state of limbo. He is portrayed as a model citizen who lacks moral imperfections to the general public yet suffers privately from the juxtaposition of his sins to his position within the community. In this specific passage, Hawthorne uses somber diction and imagery to illustrate Dimmesdale’s strife, while portraying his internal conflict through the formation

Read More

The Scarlet Letter Dimmesdale's Transformation

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).

Read More

Arthur Dimmesdale's Marking Quotes

561 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Minister's Black Veil And The Scarlet Letter

119 Words | 1 Pages

In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” and the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the stories of two men who keep their sins secret and are hurt deeply. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale does not reveal his sin to the community and experiences far more pain than Hester, whose sin is revealed. Years after the original sin, Hester has healed and is accepted by the community, while Dimmesdale still feels guilty, as can be seen when he mounts the scaffold. Dimmesdale’s experience is similar to that of Reverend Hooper, who covers his face after a secret sin and is eschewed by the community. When we refuse to admit our faults, we will feel guilty

Read More

Compare And Contrast Dimmesdale And Chillingworth A Sinner

480 Words | 2 Pages

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”).

Read More

Reverend Dimmesdale's Redemption In The Scarlett Letter

389 Words | 2 Pages

Reverend Dimmesdale committed the sin of adultery and in doing so, he fell victim to the moral consequences that resulted. Pearl observed that “. . . the minister keeps his hand over his heart. . .” (Hawthorne 163). Overtime, he began to appear pale and sickly.

Read More

The Sin Of Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter

1404 Words | 6 Pages

Because of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin has on Chillingworth, the town suffers as well. The betrayal of their pastor leads them to refuse to see the truth when he pleads for the public to see his guilt at the end of the novel, and his secrecy from the people that adore him is one of the slyest and vile parts of his sin. The blind faith that the public has in their reverend is mislead by his deceit, which causes his sin to grow to a scale that Hester’s never did. Dimmesdale also harmed Pearl, by not standing with her and Hester on the day they were condemned. When she is grown, she asks, “Doth

Read More

The Hidden Sin In The Scarlet Letter

686 Words | 3 Pages

The Hidden Sin and The Revealed Sin As humans, we live in the that are brimming with sins and evil desire. As the creator of all the creatures, God, sent his only son to save the people from the control of devil. The only thing we have to do is to acknowledge our mistake. Bible teach us that we should tell the truth to God and your neighbors, and God will forgive you. But people are worse, they not only hide the sin and their evil behaviors but also try to deny it.

Read More

More about Evolution Of Reverend Dimmesdale In The Scarlett Letter

Related Topics

Open Document