She is sitting alone reading a book, when two boys come up to her and call her ugly. One of the boys is cross eyed and the other is completely disfigured. Hypocrisy exists in every society through judgment and people’s beliefs, in which people judge other people rather than themselves and abandon their beliefs. Hawthorne attempts to expose hypocrisy in his stories, The Scarlet Letter and The Minister’s Black Veil. In The Minister’s Black Veil, Mr. Hooper wears a black veil despite being a priest. He wears the veil to represent a secret sin. People of the puritan society judge him for something that he might have done, and they only accept him when it benefits them. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is ostracized by her community …show more content…
But, they do not judge themselves or other respected members of the community. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover, finally admits that Pearl is his child and that he also committed adultery in front of the entire community. “Without disputing a truth so momentous, we must be allowed to consider this version of Mr.Dimmesdale’s story as only an instance of that stubborn fidelity with which a man’s friends-and especially a clergyman’s-will sometimes uphold his character, when proofs, clear as the mid-day sunshine on the scarlet letter, establish him a false and sin-stained creature of the dust.” (Hawthorne 311) Despite committing the same sin as Hester, Dimmesdale is given a free pass because of who he is and what he does for a living. Hester was ostracized from the community and perhaps is still being ostracized. In The Minister’s Black Veil, Mr.Hooper just entered the room with a black veil covering his face. ‘ “Our parson has gone mad!” cried Goodman Gray, following the across a threshold.” (Hawthorne 2) This man is judging Mr.Hooper based his appearance. Somehow his personality has changed and he is no longer the same Mr. Hooper in the eyes of his followers. Instead of addressing their own secret sins, they focus on discovering what Mr.Hooper’s is and why he wears the mask. These townspeople …show more content…
In both The Minister’s Black Veil and the Scarlet Letter, he uses religion and judgement to illustrate the Puritan society’s hypocrisy despite wanting to create a perfect society. The Puritans want the separation of church and state, but their values as Christians causes them to often abandon this philosophy. People often judge themselves and people they less harshly than others. Sometimes it is hard to believe that these types of things can exist today. But, the United States is an example of a society that is filled with hypocrisy. Americans like to think of America as the land of opportunities. However that is only for some, when college tuition is very expensive and jobs are scarce. Moreover, Every society is flawed and develops hypocrisy despite their best
An assumption is a thought or opinion that is accepted as being true, without enough or any proof. In The Scarlet Letter and The Minister’s Black Veil, this occurred a lot in their community. Both stories were solemly based on this theme. Judgment went along with assumption. The people of the community in The Scarlet Letter used assumption as a way to justify an excuse of judging Hester Prynne. The people of the community in The Minister’s Black Veil, used assumptions to think of ways to describe how minister, Mr. Hooper, has changed. Punishment leads to judgment, false facts, confrontation, and change.
As a spiritual leader, it is his responsibility not only to condemn Hester of her sins, but also when the sinner does not repented for them, they are to be set aside from society which results in Hester making the letter “A” beautiful. We see that hear through this quote, “[g]ood Master Dimmesdale,.. the responsibility of this woman’s soul lies greatly with you. It behooves you, therefore, to exhort her to repentance and to confession, as proof and consequence thereof” (pg. 62). After stating this the people wait for his direction. He leans over the balcony and commands her to disclose the name of the man she had slept with. She, however, refuses to relinquish the name, as she knows it is better for her to keep quiet, until he decides that it is time to come forward with the truth. This is only exemplifies the hypocrisy within Dimmesdale. Not only in this story of the Scarlet Letter, but throughout the early churches we often see religious leaders in this predicament of coming forward or not coming forward with the truth of their role within certain situations. Hester, on the other hand, is portrayed as strong but also abandoned, because she is standing alone for the sins she could not have committed alone. Dimmesdale also struggles within confessing to Pearl the truth and keeping it from her. At first he is regarded as being selfish for not
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
Dimmesdale considers the timing fortunate as it aligns with his Election Day sermon and feels that there could not be a more suitable way to end his career as a minister. He thinks to himself, “At least, they shall say of me, that I leave no public duty unperformed, nor ill performed!’” (Hawthorne 146). Up until the moment of his histrionic confession on the scaffold, Dimmesdale acts to maintain his respected reputation in the Puritan society. Even his final confession is a performance before the town. As analyzed by literary critic Terrence Martin, “...in keeping with the brilliant economy of The Scarlet Letter, the moment at which Dimmesdale commits himself consciously to deadly liberating sin becomes the moment at which he secretly wishes to cap his public life with a final burst of eloquence on the most important occasion the Puritan community can offer.” His death is his final act of hypocrisy, as he declares that he stands with them but leaves Hester and Pearl alone again to face society. His confession, like his silence, was a grandiose facade for an act of
At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale has established quite a reputation for himself. In discussing individual members of the magistrate, the towns people describe Dimmesdale as a "God fearing" gentleman, "but merciful overmuch (49)". Due to his actions all of the people respect and look up to the Reverend. Throughout the story, Dimmesdale desperately tries to confess, envying Hester, for her courage, he says, "Happy are you Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom” (188)! Even at the end of the novel, when finally attempting to confess, people are compelled by his final sermon, raving that "never had a man spoken in so wise, so high, and so holy a spirit, as he that spake this day” (243). Proving that he was a very loved and influential man in the small town.
The Scarlet Letter is full of many psychological and moral aspects, and most of them relate very well to things that are going on right now in the world. They all go hand in hand meaning that the aspects that were explained in The Scarlet Letter, can also be explained in the same way as they can be explained now. Although times were very different in the times where The Scarlet Letter took place, they are all relevant for what people have to say about certain things in today's world. The moral aspects of the Scarlet Letter are almost the same as moral aspects of today.
Now, for the rest of her life, Hester is forced to wear a large scarlet letter “A” on the bosom of her clothing. Surprisingly the man who is also responsible for Hester’s crime is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Reverend Dimmesdale is one of the communities most esteemed preachers and because of his passion during his sermons and high religious precedent, nearly everyone is fond of the charismatic reverend. Unfortunately, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale is the most considerable sinner because of his hypocrisy, and selfishness.
The Scarlet Letter involves many characters that go through several changes during the course of the story. In particular, the young minister Dimmesdale, who commits adultery with Hester, greatly changes. He is the moral blossom of the book, the character that makes the most progress for the better. It is true that Dimmesdale, being a minister, should be the role model of the townspeople. He is the last person who should commit such an awful crime and lie about it, but in the end, he confesses to the town. Besides, everybody, including ministers, sin, and the fact that he confesses illustrates his courage and morality.
As James Adam said “We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” The seed of Puritan ideas had been planted in the soil of North America in 1620, by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This seed, now aptly watered by the growing population of the America, has grown into a magnificent tree which still lives till this day. Such Puritanical Ideas has rooted itself in the soils of America; men becoming hypocrites; how sex equates to sin; and the secular power of the Christian Church.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once said, “Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death.” This quote truly captures Dimmesdale’s death and journey to death, it is guilt that drives him to the grave and it accompanies him throughout all five grieving stages. Dimmesdale is one of many characters in The Scarlet Letter that is faced with problems both personally and spiritually. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a romantic novel about a young woman, Hester Prynne, who is permanently marked with her sin by a scarlet A she must bare on her chest and also by her daughter Pearl. Hester committed adultery with the young minister of Boston, Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester, and her beloved child Pearl, learn to over come the A and change the meaning of it from adulterer to able, while they are changing the way society views them, Dimmesdale is withering away under the “care” of Rodger Chillingworth, Hester’s past husband. Chillingworth knows about the sin and seeks revenge on Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is helpless and in a downward spiral. He let the sin become who he is, even though the towns people don’t know of his adultery until his dying breath. The Scarlet Letter is a story about overcoming the darkness that hangs above you and stepping out of the sin or gloom that controls you. For characters like Hester this is a fairly easy thing to handle, but on the flip side characters like Dimmesdale struggle and can not seem to escape their heinous acts and don’t find peace of mind until they die. The Scarlet Letter mainly focuses on the process of overcoming these troubling times and how each individual character handles the pressure, stress, and guilt that come along with it differently. Arthur Dimmesdale is a lost soul after his sin, he expe...
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many profound characters. The townspeople intrigue the reader because they gradually evolve throughout the book, as would any solitary character. In the beginning of the novel, they are generally rigid and judgmental towards Hester, because she has committed adultery. Throughout the novel, they slowly allow Hester and her daughter into their community, but still look at them with suspicion and doubt. Finally, in the end of The Scarlet Letter, the town forgives her of her sin, and she cautiously finds her place in society. Hawthorne uses the strict Puritan townspeople as a criterion by which all societies can be measured. The townspeople, as with any individual character, possess a certain depth that develops with knowledge.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest fear is that the townspeople will find out about his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale fears that his soul could not take the shame of such a disclosure, as he is an important moral figure in society. However, in not confessing his sin to the public, he suffers through the guilt of his sin, a pain which is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth. Though he consistently chooses guilt over shame, Mr. Dimmesdale goes through a much more painful experience than Hester, who endured the public shame of the scarlet letter. Mr. Dimmesdale’s guilt is much more damaging to his soul than any shame that he might have endured.
"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally becoming bewildered as to which may be true”. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, this quote applies to the two main characters of the novel. It applies to Arthur Dimmesdale in a literal way; he clearly is not the man that he appears to be, and the guilt that goes along with such deception consumes his entire life. The quote also applies to Hester Prynne, but in quite a different way because it was not her choice to wear the “face” that she was forced to wear. The mark of the scarlet letter on her bosom determined how others perceived her and, in turn, how she was expected to perceive herself. At first, Hester did not consider the sin that she committed as blasphemous and horrible as the people of Boston did, but she was forced to wear the “face” of a sinner.
Without an honorable reputation a person is not worthy of respect from others in their society. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the struggle to shake off the past is an underlying theme throughout the novel. Characters in this novel go through their lives struggling with trying to cope with the guilt and shame associated with actions that lost them their honorable reputation. Particularly, Hawthorne shows the lasting effect that sin and guilt has on two of the main characters in the book: Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale.
Hester and Dimmesdale both bear a scarlet letter but the way they handle it is different. Hester’s scarlet letter is a piece of clothing, the “SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (Hawthorn 51). Dimmesdale on the other hand, has a scarlet letter carved in his chest. This is revealed when Dimmesdale was giving his revelation, in which “he tore away the ministerial band from before his breast. It was revealed!” (Hawthorn 232). Since the Scarlet Letter on Hester is visible to the public, she was criticized and looked down on. “This women has brought same upon us all, and ought to die” (Hawthorn 49) is said by a female in the market place talking about Hester. She becomes a stronger person through living this hard life. Dimmesdale instead has to live “a life of cowardly and selfish meanness, that added tenfold disgrace and ignominy to his original crime” (Loring 185). He becomes weaker and weaker by time, “neither growing wiser nor stronger, but, day after day, paler and paler, more and more abject” (Loring 186). Their courage is also weak.