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SCARLETT LETTER

Dimmesdale
In the book The Scarlet Letter, the character Reverend Dimmesdale, a very religious man,
committed adultery, which was a sin in the Puritan community. Of course, this sin could
not be committed alone. His partner was Hester Prynne. Hester was caught with the sinning
only because she had had a child named Pearl. Dimmesdale was broken down by Roger
Chillinsworth, Hester Prynne's real husband, and by his own self-guilt. Dimmesdale would
later confess his sin and die on the scaffold. Dimmesdale was well known by the community
and was looked up to by many religious people. But underneath his religious mask he is
actually the worst sinner of them all. His sin was one of the greatest sins in a Puritan
community. The sin would eat him alive from the inside out causing him to become weaker
and weaker, until he cannot stand it anymore. In a last show of strength he announces his
sin to the world, but dies soon afterwards. In the beginning Dimmesdale is a weak,
reserved man. Because of his sin his health regresses more and more as the book goes on,
yet he tries to hide his sin beneath a religious mask. By the end of the book he comes
forth and tells the truth, but because he had hidden the sin for so long he is unable to
survive. Dimmesdale also adds suspense to the novel to keep the reader more interested in
what Reverend Dimmesdale is hiding and his hidden secrets. Therefore Dimmesdale's sin is
the key focus of the book to keep the reader interested.
Dimmesdale tries to cover up his sin by preaching to the town and becoming more committed
to his preachings, but this only makes him feel even guiltier. In the beginning of the
story, Dimmesdale is described by these words; "His eloquence and religious fervor had
already given earnest of high eminence in his profession."(Hawthorne,44). This proves
that the people of the town looked up to him because of the fact that he acted very
religious and he was the last person that anyone expected to sin. This is the reason that
it was so hard for him to come out and tell the people the truth. Dimmesdale often tried
to tell the people in a roundabout way when he said "...though he (Dimmesdale) were to
step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame, yet
better were it so, that to hide a guilty heart through life."(Hawthorne,65). Dimmesdale
obviously is trying to tell her that he does not want to hide with this guilt and that he
will feel it and have temptations later but also that he is going to go through life with
the sin. Dimmesdale is obviously hiding behind his religious mask and is afraid to come
out and tell his secret. This secret tears him apart and eventually is the cause of his
death.
Reverend Dimmesdale was torn apart by his sin. It would make him do and think evil
things. The sin even made him resort to flagellation in order to make the pain of the
guilt go away. This self-prescribed torture Dimmesdale eventually lead to his death on
the scaffold where he did as he promised Pearl; holding her and her mothers hand in front
of the entire community. His torture included him pushing himself to become a better
minister to help keep the guiltiness pushed back inside his head. He began working
extremely to ensure that where his work would make the community think of him as an even
more holy man who had done no wrong. In turn making his guilt rise up even more and then
making himself have to push on and try to hide his guilt. Dimmesdale even puts himself
through self-beatings. Where once he was a attractive man was now considered a pale,
weak, emaciated coward who could barely walk and would have great pains, in which he
would grab his chest. His torture brought him to his death where he died upon the very
scaffold that Hester, his fellow sinner, had stood to face her punishment.
Dimmesdale, throughout the book, knows of where he is and what he is doing. He is seen in
the book as a reverend and to the reader as a man who is quite well-known in the
community, but is obviously hiding something. This keeps the reader interested in the
book, Dimmesdale's regression and why he regresses to his deathly state. What he had done
to get there keeps the reader interested and wondering why he is so depressed. By the
time the reader did know that Dimmesdale was the partner of Hester's sin, the reader
keeps reading to know why he committed the sin and why he is in such great pain.
Dimmesdale adds great suspense as to what he will do next in his ghastly state where he
is almost tempted to say blasphemous things and even tell children about naughty words.
He is a questionable character and this makes the reader want to know how he will end up
at the end of the book. 
Dimmesdale begins the story as a handsome, religious figure in the community and slowly
becomes more cowardly. He hides himself behind a mask of lies and cannot bring himself to
come out from hiding. He tries a few times to get Hester to tell the town that he is the
other sinner, but he cannot do it himself. His body and soul shrivels up and eventually
dies, but not before he does one act of courage and tells the entire town that he is the
adulterer. Dimmesdale was the victim of his own cowardliness and also the victim of
Chillingworth's hatred and revenge. If he could have been brave enough to tell the truth
he may have been able to save himself and ended Hesters' pain before it began. Dimmesdale
is a cowardly, weak man and he becomes more so throughout the entire book. He doesn't go
through any major changes, but the worst characteristics of his character become more
prominent. This eventually causes him to die. 
Bibliography
Scarlett Letter