Man Vs. Himself In The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne

910 Words2 Pages

A great deal of blood has been shed and many wars have been fought during the history of

civilization; however, man’s

greatest battle and most formidable enemy is only himself. This has been made only more evident

with the passage of

time and the development of the human character. However, one factor that has remained constant

in the human

character through this development is conscience. Conscience can be man’s saving grace or his

damning affliction; its

presence may simultaneously purify and mar. As contradictory as this may sound, it has been

explored in depth by

Nathaniel Hawthorne who chronicles one man’s battle against himself in The Scarlet Letter. In

this novel, an anguished

Arthur Dimmesdale struggles to pacify his conscience and withhold the secret of his sin from

being known. As his

conscience continues to consume all that is his very essence, Arthur Dimmesdale illustrates

Hawthorne’s theme of a

sin-stained conscience and redemption only through truth. The novel begins to delve into the

heart and conscience of

Arthur Dimmesdale when Roger Chillingworth questions him about his thoughts on sinners and their

secrets. Feeling full

well the torment of his own secret, Arthur proclaims that those who hold such "miserable

secrets…will yield them up that

last day…with a joy unutterable." By this expression, Arthur offers a glimpse into his tortured

heart and shows how heavy

a burden his secret is. When Chillingworth further inquires about such sinful secrets, Arthur

holds his hand to his breast, a

motion that he carries out as "if afflicted with an importunate throb of pain." Evidently Arthur

does this frequently, and the

reader is presented with the thought that this gesture possibly is not done as much out of

physical suffering as spiritual

suffering. Not only is the health of Arthur’s body in question, but the condition of his heart,

his soul, is dubious. A

supernatural light is later shed upon this question as Chillingworth uncovers the secret Arthur

had tried to keep intact. It is

visible to him as he pulls aside Arthur’s ministerial robe: a scarlet letter A upon his chest.

Although Hawthorne lets this

aspect of the novel remain ambiguous, this engraving on Arthur’s chest suggests that the burden

of his sin had seeped

so deeply within him, it has now forced its way outside; it is at all his levels. At this point

in the novel, Arthur’s sin had

begun, if it had not already succeeded, in consuming him. Arthur’s conscience was now stained

with sin, and its weight will

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