Dimmesdale In The Scarlett Letter

“Can you practice what you preach? Or would you turn the other cheek?” Say you think that gossiping is bad, but you decide to go tell your friends some gossip. This is a sign of being a hypocrite. This situation relates to Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale was a minister that committed sins but shamed his lover and the father of her child, Hester Prynne. Throughout the book you realize that Hester was not just the only “sinner”. Although he was a minister, he committed adultery which broke his vow of being loyal to his religious belief. Following this line of hypocrisy, as they were on the scaffold, he yells to Hester to release the name of the father but, little does the crowd know that he is the father. Lastly, following the lines of hypocrisy, Hester relieving the true identity of Chillingworth. Dimmesdale is broken by his hypocrisy and demonstrates that the only road to happiness is truth. …show more content…
As Hester is standing on the scaffold, Dimmesdale pleads with Hester to name the father, but still, Hester refuses to name the father. Nobody in the crowd knew that he was the father. This shows another sign of hypocrisy. This was a bad decision for Dimmesdale because sooner or later people are going to find out about what he did. “When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips.” (71) This quote relates to what happened while on the scaffold. As Dimmesdale and Hester both make eye contact, Dimmesdale looks Hester in the eyes and makes a gesture to her to keep quiet because they are the only ones that know about this. Dimmesdale is being this way because he has a fear of being judged by the townspeople because misters like him should not be making mistakes like him. He understands that he did something wrong but didn't want to tell everyone about his