The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

In most stories with very few characters there are one or two good characters and several evil characters as well.   Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a novel with no clear knight in shining armor and witch of the forest.   Hawthorne makes a much more subtle conflict between characters.   He plays with the individual's judgment and moral standards.   If the story is analyzed however, it can be discovered that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is accountable for much of the suffering that occurs in this novel.   Dimmesdale's lack of responsibility in Hester Prynne's life leads to misery for Hester as well as for himself.  
In the earliest scenes of the book Dimmesdale is shown as one of the men placing blame on Hester and not admitting his own guilt.   As we meet Hester standing on the platform in front of the throngs of Puritan people Dimmesdale is accusing her, "I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer!" (p.   73).   Dimmesdale is obviously aware of his wrongdoing by not confessing while Hester is on the scaffold.   He knows the confessing will ease his suffering, yet he decides to suffer personally and let Hester suffer publicly.   He leaves Hester and his child standing on the scaffold throughout the day, pretending to wait for the child's father to come forth.   True, he does come forth eventually and stand publicly with Hester and Pearl on the infamous scaffold, but this is not until just before his death.   Had he of confessed earlier, Hester would have had someone to share her pain and rejection with.   It is a work of procrastination that Dimmesdale does not unburden himself until his final moment.   He realized it was necessary that he confess at some point, and by doing it immediately before death he does not have to live with the public knowledge of his sin as Hester does.  
Arthur Dimmesdale lives his entire life hypocritically after his encounter with Hester Prynne.   His deceptive actions deny Hester and the Puritan...