Daryl Thomas
AP English- Mr. George
13 January 2009
Scarlet Letter Essay
The Pathway to Heaven
Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister of the Puritan church, may be looked down upon for the adultery he committed, but his act of keeping it secret was worse: “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). To be redeemed for a sin committed, the sin had to be shown to God and to man. At the top of the Puritanical hierarchy, Dimmesdale bore a false name to Boston: “The saint on earth!” (Hawthorne 131). Being a religious leader and an example to others as the quintessential Puritan, Dimmesdale did not want to bear the guilt and shame, but his pious heart yearned for Eternal Life. He looked to redeem his sin privately, aiming for that which was impossible. For this, his ever-loving God punished Dimmesdale in order to help him reach Heaven.
Dimmesdale felt guilty for betraying his congregation: "I, your pastor, whom you so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie!" (131). Many times, Dimmesdale equivocated about his wrongdoing, but the people only found him to be more holy. With such a great reputation, the minister could not accept losing the faith of his people because he wanted to continue doing God’s work. Guilt and shame were necessary components of Dimmesdale’s redemption: “the [purpose] of guilt and shame in a fellow-creature [was for] society [to] have grown corrupt enough to smile” (53). Though Dimmesdale felt internally guilty, he did not bear the shame of the sin to others, while Hester Prynne wandered about with the scarlet A on her chest. Though she had felt shame before because of bearing her sin publicly, her A changed from Adulterer to Able, and people sought her counsel and advice. She successfully redeemed herself for her sin: “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret!” (173). Dimmesdale himself said, “But still, methinks, it must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart” (123), but his shame and guilt continued to burn, as his body began to deteriorate.
This young, energetic priest’s sin reduced him to “careworn and emaciated” (103). Something was really wrong with Dimmesdale, but his heart would not tell what it was. Pearl often wondered why Dimmesdale constantly held his hand over his heart, even describing him as “a strange, sad man” (205). Dimmesdale was constantly punishing himself for the sin he committed, using a scourge upon his body and fasting to the point where he had no energy to stand. As the minister nears his redemption, it is revealed that he had his own A seared upon his chest. The common Bostonian may have thought he was sick due to illness, but Dimmesdale was really holding a heavy secret that he could not bear. Luckily, Roger Chillingworth, a talented doctor, came to Dimmesdale’s doorstep. Dimmesdale hoped for Chillingworth to help his ailing body, but the doctor was Dimmesdale’s greatest punishment.
Roger Chillingworth was renowned in his line of work; he was an experienced practitioner of medicine, having knowledge of Native American remedies mixed with a European education. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale lived together and became close friends with their many educated discussions. Dimmesdale only knew Chillingworth for his occupation, but the physician was actually the husband of Hester. Chillingworth promised to “seek this man [that Hester cheated with], as [he] sought truth in books, as [he] sought gold in alchemy” (70). Once Chillingworth found out Dimmesdale was the man who sinned with Hester, the physician continued to keep the priest alive, in order for Dimmesdale to let the shame and guilt eat him up inside: “To sum up the matter, it grew to be a widely diffused opinion, that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, like many other personages of especial sanctity, in all ages of the Christian world, was haunted either by Satan himself, or Satan’s emissary, in the guise of old Roger Chillingworth” (116). Chillingworth had devilish intentions, but the Black Man would now make a contract with Dimmesdale to further dim the physician’s heart.
As Mistress Hibbins relates, “When the Black Man sees one of his own servants, signed and sealed, so shy of owning to the bond as is Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, he hath a way of ordering matters so that the mark shall be disclosed in open daylight to the eyes of all the world!” (217). When Dimmesdale returned from speaking with Hester about running away, he seemed reinvigorated; there was actually life within the priest. Mistress Hibbins, a woman of witchcraft and evil, recognized that Dimmesdale went into the forest, and knew that he had found the Devil there. This became true when Dimmesdale began to feel evil impulses to blaspheme God’s name; however, his habitual goodness saved him from wrongdoing. A new punishment arose: an internal conflict between good and evil. Dimmesdale’s painful connection with the Devil was made tangible through Pearl.
Pearl was a reminder of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed: “an imp of evil, emblem and product of sin” (85). Dimmesdale was known to be unfavorable with children, but he faced constant torment when seeing Pearl, as the guilt and shame of his sin bore upon him: “[Pearl was] a messenger of anguish” (229). Her purpose was to keep Hester and Dimmesdale on the right path to redemption. In the forest, when they decided to runaway to Europe and find peace, Pearl began “gesticulating violently and throwing her small figure into the most extravagant contortions” (189) and even washed away Dimmesdale’s kiss. Dimmesdale could not get away from his sin that easily, for Pearl was the physical representation of his sin. Leaving his sin would be separating himself from Pearl. She was his daughter yet, and so he listened to her. Pearl would complete her role until Dimmesdale finally reached his redemption.
When the Election Sermon ended, Dimmesdale left the people in awe: “inspiration [never] breathed through mortal lips more evidently than it did through his” (222). This man was truly a divine being. As the procession carried on, Dimmesdale called to Hester and Pearl and went atop the scaffold standing with his family. On the night they had once before stood together, Dimmesdale had promised Pearl to do it in front of the people: “I shall indeed, stand with thy mother and thee, one other day” (139). Dimmesdale then revealed to the people his A, and thus revealed his sin to the public, completing his redemption. Aware of this, Dimmesdale kissed Pearl as her purpose was fulfilled and gave thanks to God for all his punishments that led him on the right path: “He hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. By giving me this burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to keep the torture always at red-heat! By bringing me hither, to die this death of triumphant ignominy before the people! Had any of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost forever!” (229). Dimmesdale then had his final breath and died, having found the Kingdom of Heaven.
Though everyone commits sin, God gives us the opportunity to be forgiven. If Dimmesdale had only opened up about his sin earlier, his physical and emotional torment may not have occurred. Dimmesdale is an example for all to “[be] true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” (231). When we open ourselves up for others to judge, the shame we feel will help us remind ourselves to never commit such sin again: “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34). With new knowledge from our mistakes, we may enter heaven.
Works Cited:
Church, Episcopal The Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1903.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Books,
1986.
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