Arthur Dimmesdale.

...

The townspeople were worried of Dimmesdale health because they were noticing he was getting weaker and paler. They chose to assign him a physician to watch after the reverend’s health. Little did they know that they were hiring his doom. Roger Chillingsworth, this was the physicians name, Hester Prynne’s husband had secretly searched for and looked for vengeance on the man who his wife cheated with. Chillingsworth made sure that Dimmesdale did not die but kept him alive just enough to suffer for his guilt. Roger Chillingsworth only role in the book is to make Dimmesdale suffer hell on Earth, so when Dimmesdale dies an hour after his confession, Chillingworth’s job has ended and dies shortly after.

Hypocrisy is also shown when Dimmesdale does not support Hester when she is being publicly ashamed. Dimmesdale just sits at an honorary spot, dressed up in his fanciest clothing and seemed to be upset as the rest of the crowd was. Dimmesdale was ashamed of being seen with Hester and met up with Hester only at public places. The fact of being seen with a unclean woman or being with the adulterer might make his reputation go down. Not only was Dimmesdale a hypocrite because he left Hester alone but also the fact that he did not support her as a reverend. As a reverend his job is to protect other people and teach that all are sinners and no sin is greater than other. Dimmesdale should have protected Hester as Jesus protected the woman who was about to be stoned, saying to the persons who had stones in hand, “ he who was not sinned throw the first rock,” this shows that everybody is a sinner and no one has the right to critique others for their sin before reflecting on their own.

In conclusion, Dimmesdale was used to represent the hypocrisy there is in the church and that even those that seem to be the pure sin as well. Dimmesdale was a hypocrite when he was at the scaffold with the crowd instead of facing the consequences of adultery, it shows he cared only for his reputation and not of Hester’s. Actions can be heavily influenced by how your heart feels, in this case guilt changed Dimmesdale actions drastically and not for good. The guilt on his heart was enough to drain out his whole health and give him a slow, suffering death, Hawthorne used Chillingsworth to make Dimmesdale suffer for his sin. Guilt will weigh down your health to the point confession is not an option but an obligation.

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Austin, Texas: Holt,

Rinehart, and Winston, 1995. Print

“Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.”Shmoop. Shmoop University, 2015.

Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

letter/reverend-arthur-dimmesdale.html>.

Slick, Matt. "Is the Church Full of Hypocrites?" CARM. N.p., n.d. Web.

14 Dec. 2015. .