Scarlet Letter Guilt Quotes

Guilt tortures from within. No one can escape from their own thoughts and speculation. Regret eats away at their insides until it completely destroys them. Generally, people try to mask their shame, which only leads to more pain. Nobody likes to admit that they have made a mistake, and we often refuse to share our mistakes with others. 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. With Pearl in her arms, Hester stood before the crowd

“Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years' cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (Hawthorne 180). Dimmesdale had tortured himself with his mistakes. His guilt had taken over him and had driven him to cause himself harm. Dimmesdale tried to live with the guilt, but it never faded. It only grew stronger. Dimmesdale, constantly at war with himself , slowly deteriorated. In the end he could no longer control it. “...he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast…. The minister stood with a flush of triumph in his face, as one who, in the crisis of acutest pain, had won a victory. Then, he sank down upon the scaffold!” (Hawthorne 240). Dimmesdale revealed his secret, and then collapsed. He felt relief and triumph with the weight of his sins lifted from