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Similarities Between The Scarlet Letter And The Minister's Black Veil

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Guilt: God’s Gift that Keeps on Giving The Puritan religion’s view on sin consists of the belief that all puritans should live a sanctified life. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works, The Scarlet Letter, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Reverend Dimmesdale (The Scarlet Letter), and Minister Hooper (“The Minister’s Black Veil”) are both leaders in the Puritan church. Amongst their superior roles, they both committed sin against God’s will. Consequently, for their inappropriate acts, Dimmesdale and Hooper both live the rest of their lives striving for redemption. Dimmesdale and Hooper might show several similarities, but on the aspects of publicity, contrition, and the symbolism of the sin itself, they have incredibly distinct qualities. To start off, in The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale commits the …show more content…

In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne makes the reader fully aware of Dimmesdale’s relations with Hester by dropping important hints. For example, in chapter three, when Dimmesdale speaks to Hester, Pearl who is clutching to Hester’s breast “turns her gaze towards Dimmesdale, and holds up her littler arms with a half pleased, half plaintive murmur” (The Scarlet Letter 47). This reaction indicated that Peal had been held by him before; she seems to be acquainted with the minister. However, the sin committed by Hooper is not disclosed to the readers, instead, they are left with a short story and an imagination to come up with it on their own. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” the veil is meant to symbolize a secret sin and conceals the true face of all men from God. It has the purpose of conveying the theme that “there is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils” where the veil in its purest form is merely a representation of dishonesty and wickedness that stops all individuals from truly coming to terms with themselves (“The Minister’s Black Veil”

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Dimmesdale submits to his wrongdoing by wearing “one face to himself and another to the multitude” and reaches a point where he does not know “which may be true” because of the frequent changes in his personality due to his surroundings (Hawthorne 206). Dimmesdale's difficulty compensating for both of his facades develops an internal conflict. Devoting much of his time pretending to be somebody else, the different masks within himself clash, and he can no longer keep track of himself or the person he wants to become together. As an act of penance, Dimmesdale “piled [a whip] on his shoulders… but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him” as a different outlet to release the guilt he associates with his sin. Engaging in this form of self-punishment, he attempts to relinquish the repentance he undergoes, but this action does not satisfy his sin.

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Reverend Dimmesdale’s physical condition diminishes the longer he keeps his sin a secret. He feels so guilty, he tortures himself by fasting and whipping in addition to feeling like a hypocrite when his gives sermons. Reverend Dimmesdale expresses, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (Hawthorne 107).

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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

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Dimmesdale was described to be a saint and savior, but really he was like the others. “Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders, laughing bitterly at himself the while, and smiting so much the more pitilessly because of that bitter laugh.” (Hawthorne 136) Dimmesdale had to hide his pain and guilt. The townspeople knew Dimmesdale as the non-sinner, a perfect somebody, but really he was just like everyone else. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale had to live up to the expectations of the townspeople and that made it harder for him to come clean because everyone expected him to be better.

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