Dimmesdale's Guilt

The main characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, all had their share either of guilt, embarrassment, or anger. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was by far the character that suffered the most because of the secrets he kept from the public. The minister’s life was miserable beyond belief due to the conflict with people who were actively involved in Hester’s unfortunate case along with his own guilt that followed his thoughtless actions of adultery.
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was an educated immigrant who migrated to the United States to pursue his career as a minister in the church. The priest went against his morals as both a man of the church and a human being and gave into temptation with confused, Hester Prynne. Though the …show more content…
As years went by Dimmesdale started taking the guilt more seriously and described it as a “bodily disease” (Hawthorne 221). the pain traveled from his mind and triggered physical attempts to punish himself. He began whipping himself for his crime since he had gone so long without facing any consequences but the guilt that haunted his mind on a daily basis. His thoughts alone were enough to make his life a disaster starting in his mind. The minister’s mind was punishing him since nobody else would as stated by Hawthorne “The pain endured through his daily life had made his mind, spirit, and sense of empathy almost supernaturally acute.” (Hawthorne 221).
Hester Prynne, the wearer of the scarlet letter is the reason for the commotion in the town. Her husband sent her to Boston under the impression that he would meet her in six months or less. Before she knew it two years had passed with no sign of her husband. Clueless of what her husband’s condition was, she had the minister’s child, which earned her the bright red A on her breast. The A stood for Adultery. Rumors spread quickly about her and she was made a public example, she was forced to stand on a platform in front of the town’s prison in the son along with her fatherless