Scarlet Letter Short Paper

Rachael Kerr
AP English 11
February 12, 2010
Scarlet Letter Short Paper
Dimmesdale’s Perfect Punishment
Human beings enjoy finding flaws in others, and making them repent for them. It is found to be amusing when one can look upon the stories of a person’s life and point out where they had gone wrong. A sense of pride is derived as the center of attention squirms while explaining themselves; this discomfort is punishment enough. Is it amusing-then-when someone goes as far as to actually punish themselves? It is not; sympathy arises as well as offers for assistance- sometimes even admiration for self-control. This situation plays over in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After committing adultery but never being publicly punished like his partner Hester Prynne, Reverend Arnold Dimmesdale harbors a seed of guilt that grows. But this form of punishment fits Dimmesdale in the best way a consequence can. The perfection of Dimmesdale’s punishment lies in three factors: the punishment itself, how it relates to him, and that he sees it as a blessing.
The best way to describe Dimmesdale’s torment is a vicious cycle. The cycle began with Dimmesdale’s sin; Dimmesdale hates sin. He then feels the need to repent because of this hate. However, he cannot repent because it will shake the faith of the townspeople. He does not risk the damage because he holds the Christian faith as most important. Following, he feels need to do something, more precisely say something. So, he preaches to the people how bad he is. By doing this, they only put him on a higher pedestal and bask in his deeper shadow: “if [Dimmesdale] discern such sinfulness in his own white soul, what horrid spectacle would he behold in thine or mine!”(Hawthorne 131). Finally by being more highly revered, Dimmesdale hates himself even more, which begins the cycle again. This torture does not only affect Dimmesdale because of the pain in inflicts, but because he is able to see the affects past himself.
Dimmesdale’s torture is especially poignant for him. To begin with, Dimmesdale cares; he cares that he has sinned and not yet confessed. In addition, by not confessing he has led the townspeople astray. Dimmesdale cares that the people are praising someone who is not what they appear to be. As he explains to Hester; “Lost as my own soul is, I would still do what I may for other human souls! I dare not quit my post, though an unfaithful sentinel, whose sure reward is death and dishonor, when his dreary watch shall come to an end!” (178). Dimmesdale is actually concerned about whether the townspeople remain virtuous or not, and this is where it is understood why he does not want to confess. He worries about the name of the church and faith of the people; if they see that the one that was always regarded as most holy has failed and sinned, what hope do they have? By not confessing and causing guilt that is slowly killing him, Dimmesdale desires to save the innocence in the people, which he himself has lost. Not only does Dimmesdale care, but his punishment is ironic in what it requires. Dimmesdale attempts to make his way around confessing by making his guilt obvious. For example, by standing on the scaffold in the town square and screaming, Dimmesdale wanted people to come running and catch him standing where so many other sinners have stood before: “It is done…The whole town will awake, and hurry forth, and find me [Dimmesdale] here!” (135). However, the people only continue his cycle by respecting him and feeding his guilt. Dimmesdale wants someone else to reveal him, but what he needs to do that actually continues his cycle. Interestingly- and perhaps obviously- enough, Dimmesdale does not complain about his punishment, quite the opposite. He finds that his torment is a blessing and praises God for the opportunity bestowed upon him.
It is quite curious to believe that guilt twisted into physical anguish could be a blessing from God, but for Dimmesdale it is perfectly befitting. He believes this for a few reasons; first of all, his sin is secret. This fact is important because Dimmesdale believes that retribution is between a sinner and God. He expresses that “the heart, making it guilty of such secrets, must perforce hold them, until the day when all hidden things shall be revealed. Nor have I so read or interpreted Holy Writ, as to understand the disclosure of human thoughts and deeds, then to be made, is intended as a part of the retribution” (119). Second, Dimmesdale believes that everything that happened after he sinned was sent from God as a chance to repent: “[God] hath proved his mercy, most of all, in my afflictions. By giving me this burning torture to bear upon my breast….By bringing me hither, to die this death of triumphant ignominy before the people. Had either of these agonies been wanting, I had been lost forever!”(229). By sending him the tools with which to punish himself, by sending Hester’s revenge-driven husband Roger Chillingworth, and by allowing an ignominious death before his followers, Dimmesdale understand that he is being offered a test. Going through this test is a rite of passage, and success will allow him into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Dimmesdale died knowing that he was able to repent in this life, so as to be better prepared for Heaven: “were I worthier to walk there, I could be better content to toil here” (111). It would be strange to describe a punishment as perfectly fitting, but it must be in Dimmesdale’s case. Dimmesdale’s actual punishment, how this punishment struck him, and that he saw it as God’s blessing were all factors in its effect. The actual punishment was an unending cycle, feeding the dark seed of guilt growing in his heart. This affected him so harshly because he is truly considerate of his sins and his responsibility to the morality of the townspeople. Finally, he interpreted all of the negative events as divine chances to make up for what he had done. Only a man so concerned as this-with such a dedication to himself, his people, and his God- would be able to die with the assurance of Heaven.

Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam, 1850.