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Nathaniel Hawthorne - Scarlet Letter Essay A - Character who elicit’s the strongest emotional reaction The character in the Scarlet Letter who elicits the strongest emotional reaction from me is Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne portrays Dimmesdale as this forlorn, aged, old man when in fact, he can not be above the age of 40. Hawthorne truly shows us what it means to suffer through this righteous minister. Dimmesdale suffers both vicariously , through his care and sympathy, and directly as well as a result of his love for Hester and the secrecy of his sin with her. Arthur Dimmesdale causes me to respond with such immense sympathy and Hawthorne’s style of writing causes me to feel like I am right there with Arthur Dimmesdale, or even at times as if I am Dimmesdale himself. I can not help but feel sorry for this character who only suffers more and more as the novel progresses - even up to the very end, when he dies having revealed the secret of his involvement in adultery, he is still suffering. Dimmesdale goes through his own pain of having to hide his love for Hester, being unable to tell Pearl of their relationship, having committed secret sin and being subjected to the satanic and agonizing treatment of Dr. Roger Chillingworth. Dimmesdale’s primary exposure to suffering is direct in nature. He suffers directly as a result of a sin he committed. Dimmesdale broke the sacred laws of his god and his religion. Laws that were his duty to uphold and to help others uphold. Dimmesdale is supposed to be this holy man, who’s purity is only excelled by the respect he gains from his parishioners. However, like many of Hawthorne’s other characters (such as Dr. Rappaccini and Reverend Hooper), Dimmesdale, while meaning well is filled with sin and is in fact not the same in person as the idealistic viewpoint of the towns members make him out to be. Dimmesdale broke a sacred covenant with God and as a direct result of his actions, he must suffer for breaking laws and trust of such sacredness. The first scene in which I find myself feeling sympathetic about Dimmesdale’s suffering is the opening scene with Hester on the scaffold being condemned in front of the town.
Approximate Word count = 1449
Approximate Pages = 5.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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