The Scarlet Letter Essay -- Literary Analysis, Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter, scripted by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays the adversities faced by Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, and their struggles to overcome their crimes of adultery. Hawthorne depicts the celestial Dimmesdale as a troubled parson with an uneasy conscience who struggles to cope with his wrongdoings. Dimmesdale is snap between whether to publically confess his wrongdoing with Hester and let the merciless Puritans specify his fate, or keep his secret hidden and let the guilty conscience derived from his actions, on with the devil in Roger Chillingworth, destroy him both mentally and physically. Being split up between his love for Hester and his Puritan ideals, Dimmesdales advancement towards making regaining for his sin of adultery is manifested in the trio scaffold scenes throughout the novel. The get-go scaffold scene depicts Hesters public humiliation of her sin, and Dimmesdales deprivation of courage and troubled soul. In the first scaffold scene, Dimmes dale acts as Hesters deceptive accuser, letting her stand alone on the scaffold for tierce hours while being ridiculed by the townspeople for an act they both committed. Dimmesdale charges Hester to cover out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer. Be not silent from any senseless pity and tenderness for him (Hawthorne 64). By directly speaking to Hester, Dimmesdale wants Hester to reveal his sin to the townspeople of Boston. Dimmesdale does not want Hester to pity him, and take all the lodge for their wrongdoing because he does not want to live a diabolic life full of hidden sin and guilt. Although Dimmesdale wants Hester to reveal his secret, he is relieved when Hester says I volition not speak...And my child must seek a heavenly Father she shall never know an earthly ... ... Dimmesdale, a subgenus Pastor with a troubled soul, regrets his actions and makes amends for his sin, allowing him to finally be put out from guilt and suffering. The scaffold, a place of public shame and humiliation, symbolizes Dimmesdales attainment towards making amends for his actions, and obtaining salvation. Dimmesdale goes from being a religious and deceitful minister in the first scaffold scene to a humble and small individual by the end of the third scaffold scene, freeing himself from the guilt that has caused so much havoc on his life. Dimmesdales sin, which is manifested throughout the three scaffold scenes, symbolizes the major theme of the Scarlet Letter, which states that hidden sin will ultimately kill an individual if left unconfessed, and that the only way to obtain salvation is by publicly confessing ones actions and making placation with God.