Scarlet Letter Essay 1

Nathaniel Burns-Sarno
Advanced Placement English/Mr.George
February 12, 2010
Scarlet Letter Essay 1
Dimmesdale’s Disastrous Distress
Throughout history, there have been many methods of torture. Rulers and judges attempted to discover the most potent means of punishing criminals, creating such devices as the iron maiden and the rack. While these devices did cause victims to experience a unimaginable amount of physical pain, they could hardly be considered supreme method of torment. True torment is often found in the very soul of a human being. John Calvin, a French Theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation, once said that “The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul”(www.brainyquote.com). Calvin knew exactly what he was talking about, having lived during an age that embraced public forms of torture. True torment is personal and gnaws at a human’s soul, leaving them unable to focus on anything else. The greatest pain that a person can be inflicted with is penitence. Such was the case with Arthur Dimmesdale, a character in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Arthur Dimmesdale, a beloved and devout pastor, secretly committed sexual acts with Hester Prynne, the novel’s protagonist. Due to this, Hester became pregnant and was forced to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom as a symbol of her adultery. Dimmesdale, who remained secretive about the fact that he was the father of Hester’s child, was filled with remorse for what he did, but could not bring himself to confess to his crime. Dimmesdale’s congregation had a large amount of reverence for him, believing him to be the purest being to ever walk the earth. This caused Dimmesdale to fear that if his sin was known, his followers would lose faith and consider true purity to be unattainable. Due to this fear, Dimmesdale’s sin was made even greater, as he was forced to become a hypocrite.
Dimmesdale’s guilt grew after a long period of seeing Hester being shunned by the town while he was considered completely pure of any sin. He began to live a life of hypocrisy, telling his followers to lead a life of virtue while he himself was a sinner. He knew that he was a hypocrite, and the approval of which he was met by his congregation tormented him: “It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him!”(Hawthorne 130). He wished for any punishment from the town, whether it was fair or not. He even went as far as proclaiming himself to be a sinner, which only caused his followers to love him more: "Would not the people start up in their seats, by a simultaneous impulse, and tear him down out of the pulpit, which he defiled? Not so, indeed! They heard it all, and did but reverence him more"(131). Dimmesdale’s congregation believed his confesses to be mere critiques of his own soul. As a result, they considered themselves even more unworthy of heaven and attempted to better themselves. This proves to Dimmesdale that his followers will always consider him pure. Finding no punishment from the people, Dimmesdale began to punish himself, striking himself with a whip, fasting for long periods of time, and branding his chest with a scarlet A. These methods of repentance did nothing to aid Dimmesdale’s guilt.
Dimmesdale believed his torment to be a blessing from God, as the more he suffered for his sin in life, the less he would have to suffer for it in the afterlife: “were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here”(111). This is why he longs for punishment from the people, as he knows that the punishment for his sin would be great in the afterlife if he suffered very little on earth. Despite the torment he is already enduring, Dimmesdale wishes for another to torture him further: “Had I one friend-or were it my worst enemy-to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be it known as the vilest of all sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me!”(173). Dimmesdale knew that he was beloved, and that fact prevented him from enduring public punishment. This knowledge only served to torment him further.
What made Dimmesdale’s torment so poignant for him was that he legitimately cared about his fate. Dimmesdale was a devoted pastor who truly hoped to achieve purity. His sin left a permanent mark on his soul, not unlike the scarlet A he branded upon his chest. In attempting to repent for his actions, his sin was only made greater. He was tormented by the love that his followers had for him when he knew he did not deserve it. He was unable to find the courage to confess to his sin publicly, and thus had to keep his torment bottled up within his soul. When Dimmesdale finally did declare his sin to the town, he was able to free himself of his guilt and died from the punishment he had inflicted upon himself. The punishment that Dimmesdale was forced to endure in life was much greater than anything that the town could have sentenced him to.






Works Cited
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/torture_3.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York, New York: Bantam Dell, 2003