Reverend Dimmesdale As A Sinner In The Scarlet Letter

Dimmesdale as a Sinner in The Scarlet Letter What makes a person a ‘great sinner?’ Is it the amount of sins they commit or the severity of their sins? Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne, has sins of both great quality and quantity. In the book, Hester Prynne is punished for the sin of adultery; neither she nor Dimmesdale tells the town that Dimmesdale is the father. Hester continues raising her daughter, Pearl, on her own. Reverend Dimmesdale is the most sinful character because he denies his family, tortures himself to avoid confrontation, and acts cowardly. First, Dimmesdale is the most sinful character because he denies his family in public. In the beginning of the book, Hester is standing upon the scaffold as her punishment for adultery; Dimmesdale delivers a speech to her as the minister. He explains in code that he will not confess himself as a sinner even though he is Pearl’s father. He tells …show more content…
One way he tortures himself is by whipping himself. “In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge” (217). The reverend held late night vigils to ensure he did not get enough sleep, which was detrimental to his health. He “kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness, sometimes with a glimmering lamp, and sometimes, viewing his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it” (218). A third way Arthur Dimmesdale tortures himself is to constantly remind himself of his sin. For example, the walls of his room contain a depiction of one of the greatest stories of adultery. “The walls were hung round with tapestry, said to be from the Gobelin looms, and, at all events, representing the Scriptural story of David and Bathsheba” (188). Altogether, Dimmesdale shows great sin because he would rather torture himself in private than confess himself as an