Who Is Dimmesdale's Punishment In The Scarlet Letter

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Recommended: Critical study of the scarlet letter

When you set your mind on something, you ultimately become just that. In the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, and Arthur Dimmesdale have committed a horrible sin, adultery. Hester is sent to prison, but nobody knows that Dimmesdale is the father. Hester has the baby in prison. Dimmesdale is the minister so he isn’t suspected to be the father and doesn’t speak up. Mistress Prynne doesn’t mind her punishment of wearing the “A”, while Dimmesdale’s punishment is guilt and he doesn’t always deal with it well. Dimmesdale set his mind on not telling anyone the secret of him being the father and he then ultimately became the father. At first, it seems as if Dimmesdale is just the minister. He says, “ ‘Be not silent …show more content…

“ ‘Nay; not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure that had so long been the anguish of his life had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which-with a strange joy, nevertheless -he now found himself.’ Not so, my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one day, but not tomorrow’ “(Hawthorne 149-150). Pearl now has a connection with Dimmesdale. She wants to be with him, but he still wants to believe he isn’t the father and he can’t be seen with her or people will know what really is. Hester’s life to Dimmesdale is free and open, while he, on the other hand, has a life of misery. His life of misery is causing him to break down and it makes people suspect something is wrong. “ ‘No, Hester, no!’ replied the clergyman. ‘There is no substance in it! It is cold and dead, and can do nothing for me! Of penance, I have had enough! Of penance, there has been none’ “(Hawthorne 188)! This secret is eating at Dimmesdale’s heart and he cannot control …show more content…

“ ‘May God forgive thee!’ said the minister. ‘Thou, too, hast deeply sinned’ “(Hawthorne 251)! Even if something may portray that he is the father, nobody would assume so because he is the minister they love and trust. Still, he greatly makes it obvious that something is wrong with him and holds his hand over his heart in pain. This cause the people of the congregation to be worried, just making him hurt even worse, thinking they may know something. Dimmesdale is trying to be forgiven for being the father, showing he accepts he is the father. “ ‘Is this not better,’ murmured he, ‘than what we dreamed of in the forest?’ ‘I know not! I know not!’ she hurriedly replied. ‘Better? Yea; so we may both die, and little Pearl die with us’ “(Hawthorne 249)! He believes the only way to conquer this is for them all to die, together. Now that he has ultimately become the father he is happy to be with his child but is frightened that he will be caught and be

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