| Term Paper Title | The Scarlet Letter |
| # of Words | 700 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 2.8 |
The Scarlet Letter
"’He will be known - he will be known - he will be known!’" said Chillingworth in the crowd (p.59). This is a lot for one man to go through knowing that he did something wrong and does not have the guts to take his punishment. Instead he keeps it all cooped up inside himself. In THE SCARLET LETTER by, Nathaniel Hawthorne, as a result of the sin of the lovers, Dimmsdale suffered the most psychologically, physically, and socially.
Dimmsdale was psychologically hurt on the first scaffolding scene, in his apartment, and in his church. Despite actually being the father of Pearl Dimmsdale if forced into asking Hester who the father is. He said, "’I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-suffer!’" (p.63). By this statement you know that he is referring to himself as the "fellow-suffer." He is not able to be with the one he loves. While Dimmsdale’s condition is weakening Chillingworth is staying with him as his personal physician. Chillingworth is able to pretend to be a friend to Dimmsdale which gives him to opportunity to use psychological pressure on Dimmsdale. He laid a guilt trip on him by saying that he would feel a lot better if he told someone his secret. However Dimmsdale refused to tell him that he is the father of Hester’s illegitimate child. Still Dimmsdale is also hurting because he does not know how the people of his congregation would react to him being Hester’s lover. He feels that his credibility within his parish has gone down. He wants to confess to them, but he just does not have the will power to do it.
Dimmsdale not only suffered psychologically, but also physically, when he self inflicts pain through fasts, vigils, and bloody scourges. "In Mr. Dimmsdale’s closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge," (p.133). He would go into his closet and take off his shirt and whip himself. He laughed bitterly at himself while he did this to...Read entire document
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