Scarlet Letter Forgiveness Quotes

At the time of the Scarlet Letter, the general idea was, “Thou shall follow the will of thy Holy God.” This lead to the base of many problems amongst the people of this time period. Nathaniel Hawthorne brings the lines of judgement and forgiveness into a masterful book. Hawthorne shares the ideas that Puritans were not quite as clean as they were expected to be. One character in Hawthorne’s novel, Reverend Dimmesdale, represents the fall that might be expected by one who breaks the laws of God and man in early American Puritan society. Through Dimmesdale, Hawthorne illustrates his theme: The average man fears judgement and condemnation by his peers more than he desires to do the right thing. However, such a being condemns himself to a life …show more content…
He refuses to let anyone know the fear of someone discovering that Pearl is his daughter. He generally tries to help her as much as he can without revealing himself. Dimmesdale attempts to protect Hester saying: "Truth in what Hester says, and in the feeling which inspires her! God gave her the child, and gave her, too, an instinctive knowledge of its nature and requirements,--both seemingly so peculiar,--which no other mortal being can possess. And, moreover, is there not a quality of awful sacredness in the relation between this mother and this child?" (Ch.8).
Dimmesdale uses this as his indiscreet way of looking out for both Hester and, more so, Pearl. But Dimmesdale keeps his discretion to protect himself from ridicule and judgement by his peers and colleagues in the congregation. Later in the book, he reveals to he has been living with the guilt and it has been destroying him. He also reveals that he believes Hester should no longer have to wear the infamous letter “A”, having learned from her heinous crime of adultery. Since Hester revealed that Chillingworth is infact her husband, Dimmesdale really shows us his cowardice towards the set revenge Chillingworth perform on