Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter tells a story of guilt, shame, and hardship. Through the book, he writes of two main characters ' lives. A common theme throughout the very different individuals ' stories is; one should always be true to others as he would be to himself. The author illustrates the corrosion and corruption that occurs when you put up a mask to the public, while also displaying the counter, a freeing life of accepting who you are. Hawthorne contrasts the two outcomes by describing the peaceful life lived out by Hester Prynne, an admitted adulteress, and the guilty life of Arthur Dimmesdale. In order to portray the hard yet liberating life of someone who is very honest with themselves and others, Hawthorne shares the
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The puritan reverend and father of Hester’s child, Pearl, makes the decision to hide his sin from his community in order to prevent members of the church from losing faith. Unfortunately, this strategy does not go according to plan and forces himself to feel guilty for the majority of his adult life. Not revealing his crime “appears at first to be Dimmesdale 's luck escaping the fate that Hester suffers turns out to have caused him insufferable pain" (Swisher 61). Lying to his congregation corrupts Dimmesdale’s image of himself because he feels as if he is being hypocritical and not reflecting the actions of a Christian, let alone a minister. He becomes extremely physically and emotionally ill because of his inner demons. The seven long years of secrecy creates an extremely depressed and distraught Dimmesdale. Hawthorne illustrates the Reverend’s state best when he writes, “Poor, miserable man! What right had infirmity like his to burden itself with crime?” (Hawthorne 134). Dimmesdale affects his emotional health, his severe depression, by not exposing his sin, but the author also shares a time where he, “tortured, but could not purify, himself” (132). Dimmesdale punished himself in an extremely violent fashion in the passage, of which Hawthorne does not share. He is guilt-ridden because of the sin, but he also feels poorly about letting Hester suffer through her public shame without him and putting up a false image of himself to the public. Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale feels so terribly about the situation, he has to live with a so-called doctor, Roger Chillingworth to give him the medical attention that he needs, confirming that the shame had made him physically ill. At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale confesses, however he dies shortly after his confession to show that because Dimmesdale waits almost a decade to share his sin, it still kills
The puritan reverend and father of Hester’s child, Pearl, makes the decision to hide his sin from his community in order to prevent members of the church from losing faith. Unfortunately, this strategy does not go according to plan and forces himself to feel guilty for the majority of his adult life. Not revealing his crime “appears at first to be Dimmesdale 's luck escaping the fate that Hester suffers turns out to have caused him insufferable pain" (Swisher 61). Lying to his congregation corrupts Dimmesdale’s image of himself because he feels as if he is being hypocritical and not reflecting the actions of a Christian, let alone a minister. He becomes extremely physically and emotionally ill because of his inner demons. The seven long years of secrecy creates an extremely depressed and distraught Dimmesdale. Hawthorne illustrates the Reverend’s state best when he writes, “Poor, miserable man! What right had infirmity like his to burden itself with crime?” (Hawthorne 134). Dimmesdale affects his emotional health, his severe depression, by not exposing his sin, but the author also shares a time where he, “tortured, but could not purify, himself” (132). Dimmesdale punished himself in an extremely violent fashion in the passage, of which Hawthorne does not share. He is guilt-ridden because of the sin, but he also feels poorly about letting Hester suffer through her public shame without him and putting up a false image of himself to the public. Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale feels so terribly about the situation, he has to live with a so-called doctor, Roger Chillingworth to give him the medical attention that he needs, confirming that the shame had made him physically ill. At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale confesses, however he dies shortly after his confession to show that because Dimmesdale waits almost a decade to share his sin, it still kills