Scarlet Letter Public Vs Private Sin

“There is no sinner like a young saint” – Aphra Behn. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is forced to wear the letter “A” as punishment because she committed adultery, when her husband was away. In the beginning of the story, Hester Prynne does not reveal the name of the other sinner, but later it is revealed to be the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. A theme Hawthorne uses in the story is public sin versus private sin and is given throughout the Hester and Dimmesdale have to face. Using that theme, Dimmesdale's sin was harder for him to bear, because of how difficult he was on himself.
When Hester goes on the scaffold she is covering for Dimmesdale because he's a minister, but he might have wanted Hester to name him. When asking Hester on the scaffold Dimmesdale yells down “ then I charge you to speak out the name of your fellow Sinner and fellow sufferer!” (105). During her questioning, Hester doesn't reveal the name of Pearl's father even after being constantly asked. I think Hester is brave and loving for being so stubborn after officials bombard her
When Dimmesdale climbs onto the scaffold with Hester and Pearl “With a convulsive motion he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast”(404). By the end of the story Dimmesdale realizes that he is going to die so as a dying wish he takes his shirt off in the scaffold. When he takes his shirt off the townspeople can see an “A” on the minister’s chest. Right before dying the minister managed to say “Farewell!’ That final word came forth with the minister’s expiring breath” (406). The action of revealing his sin was so powerful that the minister collapses. Surrounded with Hester and Pearl, he receives a kiss from Pearl, which eventually seals the ministers fate, but gives him a relief that his daughter loves him. Finally, the minister dies showing that his guilt over one sin physically marked him and killed