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  • Essay / The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Effects of Sin...

    The Effects of Sin on Dimmesdale in The Scarlet LetterHawthorn shows sins of many different kinds in many people, and the consequences and remedies for their sins . Three main characters; Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are the ones who bear most of these sins. Arthur Dimmesdale, however, suffers the most brutal effects of such sin. This is due to several reasons. The most observable reason for his eventual breakdown is his keeping his sin a secret. Arthur Dimmesdale's sin was the same as Hester's, except he never confessed to it. “As a servant of God, it is his nature to speak the truth, which is why the years of pretense and hypocrisy were especially hard on him.” (Bloom 28) Dimmesdale also believes that his sin has removed meaning from his life. His life's work was dedicated to God, and now his sin has tainted it. He believes that he is an impostor and that he is not fit to lead the inhabitants of the city to salvation. His secret guilt is a much heavier burden than Hester's since he must keep everything within himself. This also reveals Dimmesdale's weakness. Arthur desperately wanted to admit his sin to the world, which is shown throughout the book. The first incident occurred when he was asked to question Hester on the scaffold about who the father of her child was: “I charge you to pronounce the name of your fellow sinner and fellow sufferer!” Do not be silent in the face of mistaken pity. and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, even if he came down from a high place and stood there beside you, on your pedestal of shame, would it be better to be so than to hide a guilty heart all his life. " (Hawthorne 67) In this speech, Dimmesdale begs her to speak the name of the father and his fellow sinner, not only for the sake of the other rulers, but for his own. He is too feeble-minded to do so himself- even, and he believes that it would be better to lose his place of power in the Church than to "hide his guilty heart. Since it has not been revealed, that is exactly what he does, hiding his." guilty heart Considering the fact that there was no external punishment for Arthur, he creates it within himself...