Hidden Guilt In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Hidden guilt is a silent killer because one 's hidden guilt can cause a person to deteriorate emotionally and physically. It builds up over time and essentially eats away at one 's soul. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter, is a clear example of the negative effects of hidden guilt. In the book, Dimmesdale commits the sin of adultery with Hester Prynne, the main character, and together their sin results in their daughter Pearl. Roger Chillingworth, the thought-to-be-dead husband of Hester, reappears in Boston in 1642, and makes it his mission to seek revenge on the father of Pearl, Dimmesdale. Both Hester and Pearl display their sin publicly, while Dimmesdale hides his sin from society …show more content…
Dimmesdale determinedly hid his sin from the public in order to prevent harsh judgment, which displayed how greatly he valued the opinion of Puritan society. Through the character of Arthur Dimmesdale, Nathaniel Hawthorne expressed to his readers the powerful and negative impact of hidden guilt. Since there was not a true medical issue that Dimmesdale was suffering from, his illness throughout out the book is completely driven by his guilt. Similar to Dimmesdale in 1642, people in the 21st century have to deal with a guilty conscious as a result of an action they have done. Guilt can catalyze a person into sickness and once a person is able to confess one will feel reborn. The main reason people suffer from guilt is to keep it hidden from an outside source. Even though we don 't want people to know the sins we have committed, we must accept the fact that everyone sins. Furthermore, we cannot be judgmental of others for we all are imperfect beings with a sinful