The Scarlet Letter - Impact of Sin on Dimmmesdale, Chillingworth and He

The carmine Letter - Impact of Sin on Dimmmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a seventeenth century Baptist preacher, commented that, Trials teach us what we are they get the picture up the soil, and let us front what we are made of. An respective(prenominal) either faces their actions or runs from them, and Gothic Romance authors often write about(predicate) the evil that emerges in people when they conceal their sins. Throughout the novel The reddened Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates this idea through the actions of his three main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. In spite of the close equal severity of their sins, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester react to their dilemmas in varying ways such as guilt, revenge and reconciliation. Although he portrays the pious pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale handles his sin, adultery, by hiding this severance from everyone and in turn destroys himself with his g uilt. Beginning in chapter three, the townspeople constantly see Dimmesdale with his hand over his heart. He does not posses the courage to show his ravish openly, so he decides to punish himself through physical pain and nightly vigils. This torture becomes evident in chapter ten when Chillingworth removes Dimmesdales garments and rejoices at the image of a scarlet letter, along with other markings, upon the preachers chest. His strong sense of guilt too becomes apparent when he takes a midnight walk to the scaffold, where Hester and Pearl join him. At this point, Dimmesdale still cannot truly endure the shame in front of the real number crowd. Ironically, the more guilt he feels the more compelling his sermons become. He attempts umteen times to indirectly tell his congregation... ... differently towards sin and Hester proves reconciliation as the best response to wrongdoings. Through Hester, Hawthorne successfully conveys his theme that concealing a persons fault s draws forth more evil than imaginable, but bearing the consequences leads to salvation. Indeed, lifes difficult trials convey out the true essence of a person, and one must b invest inner strength while facing their shame in order to survive these trials. Works Cited and Consulted Brown, Bryan D. Reexamining Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter. http//www.usinternet.com/users/bdbournellonie.htm. July 1, 2003. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York Penguin Books USA Inc., 1996. Smiles, Samuel. The Scarlet Letter. The Power of Sin. Ed. Martin Tucker. New York City Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1962. 266.