Dimmesdale the Lying Coward
In the book The Scarlet Letter, a character named Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was considered to be, by most people in the Puritan community, a hero. Dimmesdale was an extremely religious man with great morals and values. Many people in the community looked up to him for his passion and truth about his religious beliefs. Dimmesdale was a very reserved man, and was thought to be an angel of God. People worshiped him, believed what he said, and looked at him as hero. Unfortunately the community was left completely devastated and confused, because Dimmesdale was a lying coward that didn’t find the strength to admit his sin.
Dimmesdale knew how the community saw him and could not face the truth, so he hid it. Dimmesdale lived two different lives, one was the religious face that everyone loved and looked up too. On the other hand, when he was alone all he did was beat himself up mentally and physically. Soon the guilt made Dimmesdale weaker and weaker and he wanted to tell the truth, and tried multiple times, but he never found the courage. He allowed the guilt of lying and manipulating the people to eventually kill him all because he couldn’t deal with what the community might think.
Nobody in the town imagined him committing of sin of any kind, especially one that was a huge wrong doing in the Puritan community. Dimmesdale hid a secret behind the mask he wore for the community. He had courage to commit the sin but he did not have the courage to admit it. He committed adultery with a woman, she got pregnant, caught and punished by public humiliation because of him, but he couldn’t accept the consequences. On the other hand, he was tortured not only by his conscience; he was beat down by Roger Chillingworth. Eventually Dimmesdale was destined to die because he could not survive the guilt. Surprisingly in a last show of strength, Dimmesdale admits to his sin, but dies soon after. He died and left the community, his people with no explanation.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne, Dimmesdale proves that he is a coward by not being able to do the right thing and tell the truth. He lived a double life. He was a hero to so many people and all he did was let them down. He lost their trust and honor towards him, all because he could face the consequenses. Arthur Dimmesdale is a pathetic lying coward that didn’t have the confidence or power to make things right and follow what he preached to people of the Puritan community. He didn’t have the courage to live by everything he made other people believe in.
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