Salvation In Scarlet Letter
Puritans believed that God knows all that has happened, is happening, and will happen. So everything, including salvation and damnation, is already preordained; God chose who would be saved and welcomed into heaven. However, if an individual does not follow Puritan rules, he or she will most certainly be damned. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, set in a Puritan town in the seventeenth century, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a letter A on her chest, also known as the scarlet letter, for the adultery she committed that ended her up with a child. When asked who the father of her child is, she refuses to answer and is forced to stand at the scaffold for three hours. Dimmesdale, the town minister, is asked to try to get the father's
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name out of Hester but fails in his attempt. Dimmesdale, who is looked up to by the Puritans for moral guidance, is not who the Puritans think him to be. Dimmesdale is the most sinful character in the novel because he had an affair with a married woman, he is a liar, and he isn’t there for his child.
The father of Pearl is Dimmesdale, and his affair is one of his greatest sins. When Dimmesdale and Hester are in the woods with each other he states, “Else, I should have long ago thrown off these garments of mock and holiness, and have shown myself to mankind as they will see meat the judgment-seat...Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven year’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (Hawthorne 173). Dimmesdale feels guilty for not coming forth as the father of Pearl. He also feels good being his true self without worry of them finding out he a sinner. But in all honesty it’s a bit too late. Seven years have passed. Seven years that he could have used to live his life. Later in the book Dimmesdale stands at the scaffold with Hester and Pearl and says,“People of New England! Ye, that have loved me!–– ye, that have deemed me nay!–– behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last! ––at last!–– I stand upon the spot where, seven since, I should have stood; here, with this woman…” (227). He knows what he did is wrong, but he only confesses when he knew he was going to die soon. He didn't come clean because he thought it was the right thing to do, but because he wanted to be able to rest in peace. He did it for the wrong reasons.
Dimmesdale is a liar as.
He chose to keep the secret and be consumed in guilt for seven years, than man up and tell the truth. When asked to try to get the name of Pearl’s father out of Hester, Dimmesdale begs her by speaking,“I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life”(93). Dimmesdale is such a hypocrite. He is telling her that she should not be standing at the scaffold alone, that her “fellow-sinner” should be as well because it takes two to commit adultery. He is the other part of the adulterous act, and he is telling her not to keep this a secret when he is doing the same. Keeping his secret soon led him to become a bit paranoid. Later in the novel it states, “ And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at the scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart”(134). Like in the previous quote he is “hiding his guilty heart.”And he does this in the literal way as well, he often holds his hand over his heart. As if by doing so he is protecting himself from people finding out about his
sin.
It’s important for a child to grow up with both of its parents. Aggressiveness is a psychological effect of growing up without a father. Throughout the book, Pearl gets very defensive. “But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all into flight” (93). Two Puritan kids pass by Hester and Pearl and one kid tells the other they should pass by and fling mud at them. When Pearl hears this she shouts at them. Growing up without a father, kids also have difficulties with social adjustments. “At home, within and around her mother’s cottage, Pearl wanted not a wide and various circle of acquaintance” (86). Pearl doesn't want to have friends, she feels better by herself. Dimmesdale not being there for his daughter leaves her with psychological problems that have affected her overall life.
Dimmesdale is the most sinful character in the novel because he commits adultery, he lies about committing it, and he wasn’t there for his daughter Pearl growing up. Being human it is only natural to make mistakes, some worse than others, but learn from them to better ourselves. Even though Dimmesdale acknowledges that he was in the wrong for not admitting his sin, he doesn’t grow as a person or learn from his mistakes. Rather he lives in constant depression, and when he finally comes clean he dies. Hester has to stand at the scaffold for hours in front of everyone, when he only did it for a couple of minutes.
name out of Hester but fails in his attempt. Dimmesdale, who is looked up to by the Puritans for moral guidance, is not who the Puritans think him to be. Dimmesdale is the most sinful character in the novel because he had an affair with a married woman, he is a liar, and he isn’t there for his child.
The father of Pearl is Dimmesdale, and his affair is one of his greatest sins. When Dimmesdale and Hester are in the woods with each other he states, “Else, I should have long ago thrown off these garments of mock and holiness, and have shown myself to mankind as they will see meat the judgment-seat...Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven year’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!” (Hawthorne 173). Dimmesdale feels guilty for not coming forth as the father of Pearl. He also feels good being his true self without worry of them finding out he a sinner. But in all honesty it’s a bit too late. Seven years have passed. Seven years that he could have used to live his life. Later in the book Dimmesdale stands at the scaffold with Hester and Pearl and says,“People of New England! Ye, that have loved me!–– ye, that have deemed me nay!–– behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last! ––at last!–– I stand upon the spot where, seven since, I should have stood; here, with this woman…” (227). He knows what he did is wrong, but he only confesses when he knew he was going to die soon. He didn't come clean because he thought it was the right thing to do, but because he wanted to be able to rest in peace. He did it for the wrong reasons.
Dimmesdale is a liar as.
He chose to keep the secret and be consumed in guilt for seven years, than man up and tell the truth. When asked to try to get the name of Pearl’s father out of Hester, Dimmesdale begs her by speaking,“I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life”(93). Dimmesdale is such a hypocrite. He is telling her that she should not be standing at the scaffold alone, that her “fellow-sinner” should be as well because it takes two to commit adultery. He is the other part of the adulterous act, and he is telling her not to keep this a secret when he is doing the same. Keeping his secret soon led him to become a bit paranoid. Later in the novel it states, “ And thus, while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at the scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart”(134). Like in the previous quote he is “hiding his guilty heart.”And he does this in the literal way as well, he often holds his hand over his heart. As if by doing so he is protecting himself from people finding out about his
sin.
It’s important for a child to grow up with both of its parents. Aggressiveness is a psychological effect of growing up without a father. Throughout the book, Pearl gets very defensive. “But Pearl, who was a dauntless child, after frowning, stamping her foot, and shaking her little hand with a variety of threatening gestures, suddenly made a rush at the knot of her enemies, and put them all into flight” (93). Two Puritan kids pass by Hester and Pearl and one kid tells the other they should pass by and fling mud at them. When Pearl hears this she shouts at them. Growing up without a father, kids also have difficulties with social adjustments. “At home, within and around her mother’s cottage, Pearl wanted not a wide and various circle of acquaintance” (86). Pearl doesn't want to have friends, she feels better by herself. Dimmesdale not being there for his daughter leaves her with psychological problems that have affected her overall life.
Dimmesdale is the most sinful character in the novel because he commits adultery, he lies about committing it, and he wasn’t there for his daughter Pearl growing up. Being human it is only natural to make mistakes, some worse than others, but learn from them to better ourselves. Even though Dimmesdale acknowledges that he was in the wrong for not admitting his sin, he doesn’t grow as a person or learn from his mistakes. Rather he lives in constant depression, and when he finally comes clean he dies. Hester has to stand at the scaffold for hours in front of everyone, when he only did it for a couple of minutes.