Arthur Dimmesdale is a great man and also a priest, but later on in his life when he met Hester it seemed like everything turned to sin. Arthur was a very strong and knowledgeable man. He stood strong in the values he preached and also in the words he said. In the Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne sin was entered by a man and a woman. It wasn't planned to happen the way it did but when Arthur and Hester met it was instant love. This was shocking to know that the priest was the one to have a baby with a married woman but also shocking to see how his town viewed him after knowing the fact. With the choice Arthur Dimmesdale made at that one instant time would be a choice he would have to live with for the rest of his life. With this choice came guilt, responsibility Gods power, and also shame. Not only to him but to the people around him that knew what kind of person he was. Arthur Dimmesdale didn't realize the consequence of his actions at the time because he still thought that the town would still have his back. The sad part is that once he confessed and told the town they turned their back on him. Guilt was already set in him as soon as he done what he did, but when his town turned on him it took it to a whole different level. It was easy to know how guilt was set in him because of the way his character felt after hearing that Hester was pregnant. Arthur knew who it was as soon as Hester said it. This affects the story in a great way because this is a great christian man with strong morals. Arthur is a priest of God and to commit such a sin was terrible. Not only in his eyes and the towns eyes but in Gods eyes and that was the most painful thing to Arthur. When Arthur feels this pain its not really physical to him its actually personal, because he knew how great of a christian man he was. Arthurs sin in this story gets him into a lot of trouble with his town but also gets him out of trouble as well. This is so because throughout the story Arthur felt like he was missing something in his life. Yes he was the priest and a christian man but he was still missing love and when he met Hester it felt like his whole life was changed. He was in huge trouble in the towns eyes and they were going to kill him, but in Gods eye after Arthur confessed that he had committed a sin and asked God for forgiveness Arthur was still his son. This also shows how God got Arthur out of a horrible situation he was in and turned it into a great situation. Arthur Dimmesdale also had to take responsibility of his actions. During the trial the judge asked Hester who was the father and she didn't tell. Arthur tried every way to get Hester out of going to jail but there was nothing he could do to stop it. You could see the pain in Arthurs eyes because he knew it was his but at the same time he was shocked. At this time Arthur really didn't feel like he was ready to take the responsibility but then when she was put in jail you could really see it set in. Arthur promised Hester that he wouldn't tell but through his actions you could see that he wanted to. "I, your pastor, whom you so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie….!" (Hawthrone, 95). When he visited Hester in jail he seemed heartbroken because he knew that she was going through a ruff time. This didn't help because it made him want to tell even more but he knew that he couldn't because he promised Hester that he wouldn't tell. This trait affects the story greatly because it shows how he kept his promise but still had a fire burning inside of him because he tried every way to tell but not with his words, with his actions. This helps the characters relationship with others because it showed Hester that she could trust him no matter what. It also helps his relationship with others because without him announcing it to the town they still viewed him as their reverend and had great respect for him. Personally Arthur Dimmesdale is feeling the guilt and shame, not from others but from God. He knows that he has done wrong because him and Hester are not married and that is a sin. Dimmesdale is now feeling Gods power of his actions. God is allowing him to go through some hard trials and he is feeling the affect. This is easily shown because you can tell that Arthur is slowly breaking down but he is still trying to be strong. The way he preaches isn't the same, he doesn't have that power in his words like he used to. He doesn't even walk in the same movement that he used to. He was starting to put his hand over his heart, this may be Arthur asking the Lord to forgive him. He couldn't ask for forgiveness in public because he promised Hester that he wouldn't tell. This affected the story because it showed how a sin like this could affect a strong man like Dimmesdale. His relationships with others was still the same because they didn't know but it was surely about to come out. Once the towns people had the witches and Hester on the platform before they were about to be hang Arthur Dimmesdale finally announced what he had done. This affected his relationship with the town because they thought of him as their reverend, and strong willing man of the Lord. This hurts Arthur because the towns people were wanting to hang him now, but Arthur wanted to take Hesters place and die because thats how much he loved her and his daughter. They were'nt able to hang Arthur tho because he took his final breath right there before they got to him. That may have been the Lord telling him that it was time to go.
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