Essay On Dimmesdale's 'Guilt In The Scarlet Letter'

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English III
November 4th

The Scarlet Letter

“Guilt is the source of sorrows, avenging in fiends that follows us behind with whips and stings” - Nicholas Rowe. Secret sin is worse than public sin. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale has secret sin and it tears him apart. Hester has public sin, and she learns to cope with it. Though both sinners suffer, Hawthorne illustrates that keeping secret sin is deadly.

Dimmesdale punishes himself because he feels so blameworthy about his sin. When Chillingworth was snooping, “In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge”(64). This implies that he hurts himself; a scourge is something you use to whip or lash someone for punishment. He …show more content…
When Hester is feeling judged she uses, “...One token of her shame would but poorly scene to hide another...yet a haughty smile and a glance that would not be ashamed…”(2.10). Hester accepts the community blaming her and she also acquires her punishment but does not let it behest who she is. She learns from the sin and grows from it, making her feel chargeless, autonomous, and enduring. The magistrate's decision would be, “the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom”(5.3). Hester realizes about her repentance which is she needs to let go all of these annulling emotions the scarlet letter gave her; it does not characterize her oneness. Pearl is seen as her admonition of sin but in the end Pearl gives Hester an aspiration to live and someone to love; Pearl is Hester's stability. These are key details that show why Hester's sin is more bearable then …show more content…
Pearl normally shows her devilish ways by throwing stones at children, while screaming in a way that sounds like "a witch's anathemas in some unknown tongue" (6.7). Hawthorne uses Pearl to represent sin; she is the scarlet letter furnished with life. Hawthorne uses irony by naming the child Pearl; typically, pearls are precious and pure, rather than riddled with transgression. Dimmesdale showing his frustration, “Of penance so have had enough! Of penitence there had been none...mine burns in secret! Thru little know eat what a relief it is after the torment”. (84). Hawthorne shows that secret sin is worse because it drains him, his complexion, his body fails and he degenerates physically and spiritually. Him being apologetic is not enough to advocate his sin; he is artificial and not true to himself. This shows completely which road to take when deciding between having secret sin and public
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