Scarlet Letter Good Vs Evil

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, he explores the prodigy of love, crime, and revenge. It revolves around a sinful act of passion that impacts Hester Prynne, an adulteress forced to wear a scarlet letter “A”on her bosom; Reverend Dimmesdale, a respected minister in the puritans community; their daughter, Pearl; and Roger Chillingworth, Hester 's husband. Most of the characters portrayed can be analyzed as embodying both “good” and “evil” qualities. Dimmesdale is especially viewed as an ambiguous character. Dimmesdale’s moral ambiguity comes from his internal conflict between his devotion to the church and the guilt he feels for not receiving blame for his sinful act of co-adultery with Hester. Classifying him as an “evil”

Although his actions and decisions seem to be bad, the character gets sympathized for his internal struggles. Afraid of revealing his sin to the public shows his lack of courage. A reason for this lack of courage is due to puritan beliefs. The puritans had religious exclusiveness that was the foremost principle of their society. The Puritans were strict and had punishments for everything especially adultery. In chapter 3 , “The Recognition”,Dimmesdale pleads Hester to tell who the partner in the sin was but she refuses. “She will not speak!” murmurs Mr. Dimmesdale, who was leaning over the balcony, with his hand upon his heart …” This quote shows how Dimmesdale is accusing Hester of not admitting who sinned with her when he did not. The placement of Dimmesdale 's hand over his heart later on is revealed that he has a his own letter carved in his chest. By putting his hand on his chest he is reminded of his cowardice for letting Hester take the full blame of infidelity. During the years Dimmesdale becomes tormented by the dichotomy between what he is and what people believe him to be. His parishioners are "hungry for the truth" and listen to his words as if "a tongue of Pentecost were speaking!". Even though the people listen to him and believe everything he says he still lacks the courage to tell them his sin. He bears his shame alone. This shows that Dimmesdale suffers from his reputation with his society but also shows his cowardness. Dimmesdale was becoming more popular His hypocrisy shows from the beginning when he calls Hester out for not talking the truth but he himself is too scared to tell due to how he is viewed in this society. He can 't be classified as evil or purely