When encountered with a woman charged with adultery, Jesus proclaimed, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). As no man is truly without sin, humans cannot justly punish them for sins without holy guidance. They can, however, worsen their own sin to the point of being irredeemable. in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Dimmesdale’s sin was the most unholy and dangerous of all those presented in the novel.
Because of the effects that Dimmesdale’s sin had on those living in his society, his sin is the greatest of all those presented in the novel, as illustrated by Hawthorne through Dimmesdale’s interactions with others.
Because, unlike Hester, Dimmesdale hides his sin from the
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When Roger Chillingworth sees the ‘A’ on Dimmesdale’s chest, is any “man [had] seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment in his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself”(135). Because Dimmesdale sinned against Chillingworth, Chillingworth becomes a shadow of his former self, often compared to a leech that sucks the essence of Dimmesdale. This satanic alteration of Chillingworth is solely due to the act of adultery that Dimmesdale performed, and all of the negative acts of Chillingworth are also traced back to his act of adultery. Because of the alteration of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale’s sin also has negative consequences on the townspeople. In the town, the opinion that Chillingworth was “[either] Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary”(124). 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 …show more content…
Dimmesdale’s sin was the most unholy and dangerous of all those presented in the novel, and affects those around him to such an extent as to make their lives worse than they would have been if he never existed. Although Dimmesdale was a devout protestant, he still believed that God would never forgive him and that he would live without the grace given to the women that Jesus saved on the Mount of Olives in
Because Dimmesdale fears letting the townspeople down, his guilt festers with the their admiration of
(113) “What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (62) These passages emphasize the internal conflict within Dimmesdale, he is a man who is desperately trying to hide his sins from the public. The physical description of Dimmesdale emphasizes his physical weakness and fragility, which reflects his moral weakness, linked with his unfaithfulness which brings him to fulfill sinful acts.
According to Hawthorne, the consequence of sin is mental deterioration as represented by Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is a priest that has committed a vile crime, although only a scanty amount of people know about it. Dimmesdale has not publically announced his sin, which in turn worsens his mental health due to guilt. Dimmesdale stood in front of the town when his past lover, Hester, was being publically humiliated and never uttered a word, only placed “his hand upon his heart” (59). The consequence of not admitting his immoral sin was ultimate guilt.
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!
This comes to, people must accept responsibility for their actions or reap the consequences. Dimmesdale was represented as a coward by Hawthorne in many ways but one of the main ones was how he didn't confess till seven years later. When Dimmesdale goes on the scaffold, Hawthorne creates a scene that shows the sorrow Dimmesdale feels and all of the guilt that had eaten away at him for so many years finally all caught up. The choices Dimmesdale had made not only affected him but the people around him. During the time period of this film Hawthorne created this to show that the religious background had a great effect on the people around him and himself.
After Dimmesdale and Hester have their discussion in the forest about freeing themselves from the harsh Puritan society, Dimmesdale ends up having a characteristic transformation. Dimmesdale feels that he has just released his sin that he has been keeping secret all this time, which causes him “at every step to do some strange, wild, wicked thing or another, with a sense that it would be at once involuntary and intentional, in spite of himself, yet growing out of a profounder self than that which opposed the impulse.” This passage is closely foreshadowing how in the new future, Dimmesdale is going to break free from his common characteristic of the noble minister, that he has worn so far throughout the story. Hawthorne also chooses to mention
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
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).
and yet he ambitiously seeks further torture. As his antipathy amplified, Chillingworth perpetually imbued Dimmesdale with a fiery warmth of regret for the scandalous iniquity he had wrongfully commit; Yet, Chillingworth’s “righteous” acts are not righteous at all, in fact he commits sin tenfold that of Dimmesdale just through these acts. Chillingworth poses himself as a kind man attempting to heal the Reverend, but this is a lie, a lie directly to the face of God. Chillingworth does not care for the health of the Reverend, his true underlying intentions are to seek information from
When we keep secrets we also keep guilt and guilt will destroy us from the inside. In the book of scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and how one woman who committed adultery with a character named dimmesdale who is the town revered. Dimmesdale kept secrets to maintaining his reputation but actions the guilt eats him from the inside. Dimmesdale the town revered for the puritan religion. He commits adultery with Hester and has a child, but instead of facing his sin he keeps inside for no one to know.
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).
Dimmesdale and Chillingworth both have secrets that make them look and act differently, their secrets affect their character and how they do their job. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl but he doesn 't want to face the same humiliation as Hester did for his sins. Because of his secret he self punishes and fasts, he also preaches better than he did before although his health is failing. Chillingworth’s secret is that he was the husband of Hester while he was away, before she cheated on him. Chillingworth gets uglier and uglier driven by the need to get revenge on Pearl’s father.
This remark implies that Dimmesdale’s morality revolves around his self-conscience and what is right and wrong in the eyes of society and his social status as a clergymen. He demands Hester to exploit him for his actions in taking part of the adultery scenario with Hester. With respect to Kohlberg’s level of moral reasoning, he is at stage 4 “Maintaining the Social Order” for risking his entire reputation as a respected man in society over the action of one sin. Then, in Chapter 10 by now most of the Puritan society built suspicion of Chillingworth as a devil seeking to take ill Dimmesdale's soul. Since Chillingworth was first seen god like for his knowledge in medical care, he was truly valued by the Puritan society.
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”).
Expectations of Dimmesdale to be “morally pure” and free of sin have created a divergence between Dimmesdale’s reality and the expectations of the public. This divide causes a corruption of Dimmesdale that smolders underneath the façade of the public 's perception and his reality. The conflict manifests itself in Dimmesdale as illness; a metaphor that provides a clear view on Hawthorne 's views of society: how divergence of an individual 's reality and society 's demands sickens and corrupts an individual. Dimmesdale 's isolation within his house allows him to escape others and atone for his sins by prayer, but Chillingworth 's influence turns it into a place of evil, forcing Dimmesdale to hide his secret. Chillingworth 's constant presence becomes a corruptive force in Dimmesdale 's life, and his constant presence damages Dimmesdale 's physical state.