The Scarlet Letter Of Sin

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Among Sin

Essay written by: PeachiKiwi

Sin is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as, “any offense, fault, or the willful breaking of religious or moral law.” Mankind is
prone to some degree of sin: it is a barrier that can not be avoided. But it is a question as to what mankind can do in order to
achieve redemption from sinister ways, and also how to redeem. However great a sin may seem, it can only augment itself by the
perpetrator not owning up and taking responsibility for it. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, perhaps the
greatest sinner was Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.

Many of Hawthorne's works center around what is right or wrong, and the consequences of breaking the basic links between humans
by committing acts of sin (Brown). In this book, Reverend Dimmesdale is Hester Prynne’s secret lover, with whom he shares his sin,
the sin of adultery. It is ironic that dispite Dimmesdale’s profession, he commits this sin. For a great amount of time in this book,
author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how this sin is frowned upon by many of the townspeople.

Arthur Dimmesdale is an eminent minister in Boston and also the father of Pearl. He is a tortured man who constantly places his
hand over his heart when agitated. His health is quite bad, and it is thanks to Roger Chillingworth's potions that he is able to stay
alive. Dimmesdale admits to being Pearl's father at the very end of the novel, and reveals that he has a scarlet letter branded into
his flesh. He dies upon the scaffold while holding Hester's hand.

For seven long years, Mr. Dimmesdale lacks the courage to admit his guilt publicly, which puts a tight clamp on his conscience and
soul. His sin is prolonged inside of him, festering in every corner of his body and plaguing in his mind...