In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the respected minister Arthur Dimmesdale deceives his community, preventing the townspeople from seeing the truth that he has sinned—hidden it. He hides his secret all these years and acts like he is still a minister of impeccable character, when he knows that he is really one of the most sinful people in the community. Although this makes him a hypocrite, Dimmesdale feels like he has to uphold his reputation so that it fits the “dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law” (Hawthorne 39). These Puritan standards are so strict that when Hester is in the market-place, everyone who sees her is judging her. One women even says, “‘She hath good skill at her needle, that’s certain . . . but did ever a woman, before this brazen hussy contrive such a way of showing it?’” (40). This woman, like the whole community, judges every single thing Hester does. Like Hester, every person in the community is being judged on every single thing they do, even if it is something as small as Hester presenting her talent by wearing the clothes she made; this presentation is seen as pridefulness, and is obviously frowned upon by the Puritan community. The same judgement applies to Dimmesdale: he feels like he has to hold his guilt in in fear of not meeting these Puritan expectations. When the guilt of his sin finally overcomes him, he fantasizes about confessing the secret of his adultery to his congregation seven years after he committed the sin, but the people do not believe what he says. Rather than believing him, they believe the deception he has been showing them. This deception presents Dimmesdale as the “pillar of moral purity in the community” (“Scarlet Letter” 313).
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He expects them to be angry and make him leave the pulpit when they hear his veiled confession, but instead “they heard it all, and did but reverence him the more” (Hawthorne 107). Dimmesdale reminds himself of his seemingly unforgivable sin when he sees the meteor. This meteor comes when Dimmesdale is on the scaffold, when he is showing his secretive, sinful side instead of the perfect Puritan side he usually shows the community. The scaffold is the place where he punishes himself for his sin, so it is fitting that he sees the meteor when he is on the scaffold. The community’s ability to judge people for their goodness and sin is ambiguous—like the meteor—meaning that the community has “the incapacity to know anything for certain” (“Scarlet Letter” 313). He interprets this meteor’s shape as a symbol of his impurity. The community, however, interprets the meteor to mean that their deceased governor is now in heaven. He may have been impure, but kept it hidden, like Dimmesdale. These differing interpretations of the meteor support the theme that a community cannot define goodness and sin in an individual, because of the privacy and secrecy in everyone’s lives. Dimmesdale interprets the meteor’s shape as a sign of his adultery, showing that because the community has not punished him for his sin, he suffers from self-shame and cannot forgive himself for what he has done. Dimmesdale, as an individual, interprets the meteor differently than the rest of the community because he constantly has his sin on his mind and he will not forgive himself for his actions. Dimmesdale’s guilt does not go away because he believes that since he has not received punishment for his sin, he does not deserve forgiveness—his own or anyone else 's. He craves punishment so he can achieve forgiveness. Dimmesdale urges Hester to confess for him and tell everyone that he is an adulterer. He emphasizes his wish to be punished by saying, “What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (Hawthorne 50). Dimmesdale views himself as a hypocrite because, as a preacher, he warns his congregation about sin and everyone thinks he is perfect, but he is really a sinner. He does not want to feel like one; he wants to confess and feel free from his sin. He sees the meteor as a symbol for his adultery because he has not been punished like Hester has. Therefore, he does not think he should be forgiven, and he
He expects them to be angry and make him leave the pulpit when they hear his veiled confession, but instead “they heard it all, and did but reverence him the more” (Hawthorne 107). Dimmesdale reminds himself of his seemingly unforgivable sin when he sees the meteor. This meteor comes when Dimmesdale is on the scaffold, when he is showing his secretive, sinful side instead of the perfect Puritan side he usually shows the community. The scaffold is the place where he punishes himself for his sin, so it is fitting that he sees the meteor when he is on the scaffold. The community’s ability to judge people for their goodness and sin is ambiguous—like the meteor—meaning that the community has “the incapacity to know anything for certain” (“Scarlet Letter” 313). He interprets this meteor’s shape as a symbol of his impurity. The community, however, interprets the meteor to mean that their deceased governor is now in heaven. He may have been impure, but kept it hidden, like Dimmesdale. These differing interpretations of the meteor support the theme that a community cannot define goodness and sin in an individual, because of the privacy and secrecy in everyone’s lives. Dimmesdale interprets the meteor’s shape as a sign of his adultery, showing that because the community has not punished him for his sin, he suffers from self-shame and cannot forgive himself for what he has done. Dimmesdale, as an individual, interprets the meteor differently than the rest of the community because he constantly has his sin on his mind and he will not forgive himself for his actions. Dimmesdale’s guilt does not go away because he believes that since he has not received punishment for his sin, he does not deserve forgiveness—his own or anyone else 's. He craves punishment so he can achieve forgiveness. Dimmesdale urges Hester to confess for him and tell everyone that he is an adulterer. He emphasizes his wish to be punished by saying, “What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (Hawthorne 50). Dimmesdale views himself as a hypocrite because, as a preacher, he warns his congregation about sin and everyone thinks he is perfect, but he is really a sinner. He does not want to feel like one; he wants to confess and feel free from his sin. He sees the meteor as a symbol for his adultery because he has not been punished like Hester has. Therefore, he does not think he should be forgiven, and he