Arthur Dimmesdale Minister Dimmesdale plays a very unique and very ironic role in this novel. Mr. Dimmesdale is a minister, a man of god. Moreover, he is not only a healer of sin, but pure gentleman representing god. His stereotypical role shows his purity, but it is very ironic that it is Minister Dimmesdale himself who is the sinner; himself the adulterer. In the opening chapters, he tries to mask himself from his sin, wearing the face of a pure man, trying to heal Hester from the sins she has committed.
He even goes as far to ask Hester, while she stands on a scaffold before the whole town, who is her lover; who is her child’s father. When Hester refuses to comment, Dimmesdale I am sure breaths a sigh of relief, but he also makes the people of village believe not only in his innocence, but in his unsurpassed nobility, chivalry, and purity. These acts by Mr. Dimmesdale show a man hiding his endeavors, but later on in the novel, it seems that he shows himself more and more as a candidate of sin. Throughout the book, he speaks of Hester in a kind, generous, and almost loving manner. To further cast himself into suspicion, he defends Hester when the governor and his associates demand to take Pearl away from Hester, due to the unfit living environment.
This puts him into a very dangerous position. Any suspicious person or anyone considering that everyone was a suspect would easily be able to see his love for Hester. His only safety, and the one which I believe saves him till the end, is his role as a minister. No one believes that he is capable of such a sin because everyone believes he is the purist puritan amongst them. In today’s world, especially with the present day scandals of priests in the Roman Catholic Church, the situation would have been very different. Most would not have their judgment clouded by his role as a minister because in today’s world, person’s of god are being viewed more and more as flawed and not nearly as holy or trustworthy as in the past.
The Term Paper on The Scarlet Letter Hester Dimmesdale Pearl
Author's Background: Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4 th, 1804. Hawthorne lived poor due to his father's death when he was four, but he was helped by relatives and enrolled in college where he displayed an interest in writing. In college, he met a friend who would prove to be an invaluable help Franklin Pierce, future President of the United States. In 1825 he ...
The safety of innocence protects him from the people, but it does not protect him from himself. Throughout the years, the pain and suffering grows, along with his role as a healer and servant of god in the community. This weight he carries hinders him from doing his job, making him sick and filled with sorrow. His previous acts torture him. As an honest man, as a moral man, he feels the need to come forward. However, he can never bring himself to do so because of the consequences on himself, Hester and Pearl.
Therefore he keeps this truth locked away, where is silently kills him. At the end of the book, Dimmesdale comes forward, confesses, and while dying, Hester discovers a red A on his chest, much like the one she herself wore. This shows how his sins of adultery have tortured him, and now finally got the best of him. I believe that he felt that the true sin was not committing the act, but concealing it. He masked his sinful actions from the world, in order to be strong for his community, play the role which he was given, and protect the women he loved, but underneath his solitary cloak he only hurt himself, causing him pain, anguish, and death..
