Who Is Dimmesdale In The First Scaffold Letter

In the first scaffold scene Dimmesdale is aware of his guilt and hypocrisy when he questions Hester but is too cowardly to confess his sin. Hester, while holding her child, stands in front of the public on the scaffold enduring humiliation and trial from the authorities of the town, in which they insist upon her to reveal the child’s father. Even Dimmesdale, as one of the authorities, says to her, “what can thy silence do for him, except… to add hypocrisy to sin?” However, she is unwilling to speak his name. Dimmesdale acts with great dishonesty and cowardice, deceiving the public into believing that he is not in the wrong - that he is a wise and benevolent pastor. He allows Hester to suffer the pain and humiliation alone. With this first stage of guilt, Dimmesdale only falls deeper into the sin he has committed.
During one of his excruciating vigils, he is driven nearly mad. Not fully aware of where he was going or what he was thinking, he staggers towards the scaffold. Here, he attempts to confess, wanting to relieve himself of his immense agony. He manages to let out a cry of anguish, however no one comes. While standing there half-relieved that no one came and half-disappointed that he had not yet the courage, Hester and Pearl happen to walk by from the dwelling of Governor Winthrop. Spotting Dimmesdale, they stand side by side with him on the scaffold, where Pearl asks him, “stand here with mother and me, tomorrow” (105). However Dimmesdale declines saying that on Judgement Day, he will then stand with them. Bizarrely, a meteor in the shape of an “A” is etched in the sky. One comes to the realization that soon Dimmesdale can not run away any