Essay, Research Paper: Scarlet Letter: Dimmesdale's Suffering

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet
Letter, Dimmesdale, experiences the most emotional suffering from the
weight of guilt placed upon him as the father of an illegitimate
child. His lover, Hester Prynne bears their child and is chastised
and exiled from her peers. The identity of the father is kept
secret, so the community respects Dimmesdale as a member of the
Doctrine of the Elect. Dimmesdale is considered a role model for
other Puritans of Boston. Dimmesdale suffers the most because of the
pressure of being a role model for the community, so he cannot tell
anyone, and he puts himself in physical and emotional turmoil because
of this.
Being a role model makes it harder for Dimmesdale to live his
life. As a parishioner, Dimmesdale's every word is considered
important. "They deemed the young clergyman a miracle of holiness.
They fancied him the mouthpiece of Heaven's message of wisdom, and
rebuke, and love" (131). This shows that he was widely respected
which made it harder to confess. At times he wanted to bear the
black secret of his soul, but he could not because of the respect he
had over people. Hester did not have to suffer this way. Her secret
was out in the open. It is proven when Dimmesdale dies on the
scaffold how he was respected. Some of his fellow parishioners do
not believe that there was an "A" on his chest.
Dimmesdale cannot tell anyone about his secret, because of
Chilingworth's vengeance, talking to Hester makes him fearful of
being suspected. Once again the suffering Chilingworth experiences
is nothing compared to Dimmesdale. Chilingworth is also concealing a
deep secret, but he does not face any consequences if he confesses.
Hester does not have any more secrets. Chilingworth, whom Dimmesdale
is living with, is very vengeful. There is even reference to
Chilingworth being like the devil. In the prison when Chilingworth
treats the infant Pearl, Hester asks if he will prey upon her soul
now that he is in Boston. Chilingworth replies "'Not thy soul'"
(72). This means that he is going to take vengeance on the father.
Chilingworth explains that he is ruthless, "(F)ew things hidden from
the man who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the
solution of a mystery" (70). This shows that Chilingworth is
determined to make Dimmesdale suffer, and magnifies Dimmesdale's
suffering.
Dimmesdale suffers emotionally and physically, because he is
alone and a role model. He physically damages himself by etching the
A into his flesh. As well, it is shown that he is emotionally
deteriorating. The night he went to the scaffold Dimmesdale thought
he had a whole conversation that did not really happen. After
thinking Dimmesdale spoke he thought to himself, "Good heavens had
Mr. Dimmesdale actually spoken? For one instant he believed that
these words had passed his lips... they were uttered in his
imagination" (138). This shows that Dimmesdale is not in the right
mind, and he is having trouble establishing reality from his
imagination. Physically it has been noted that Dimmesdale might have
been whipping himself. "In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet... there
was a bloody scourge.... this (man) had piled it on his own
shoulders" (133). Later it also alludes to how he starved himself,
out of guilt. Although Hester suffers from loneliness, she still is
allowed to know her daughter, while Dimmesdale fears his own child.
Chilingworth deteriorates, because he thrives on Dimmesdale falling
health.
Dimmesdale suffers the most in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The
Scarlet Letter. He is ashamed to admit his sins to a parish that
respects him greatly, and because of this he is alone. It has
deteriorated his mind and his thoughts. Suffering is a universal
trait. All of us feel pain, emotional and physical, at some point in
our lives. The barrier between human and animal or woman or man is
unseen by the lurking shadow of suffering. Like the does whose lives
are mercilessly taken during a weekend pastime, or by a speeding car
they suffer just as much as one who is mourning a death or their own
inner exile.