Scarlett Letter

A detailed Summary of Scarlett Letter

In the book The Scarlet Letter, the character Reverend Dimmesdale, a very religious man, committed adultery, which was a sin in the Puritan community. Of course, this sin could not be committed alone. His partner was Hester Prynne. Hester was caught with the sinning only because she had had a child named Pearl. Dimmesdale was broken down by Roger Chillinsworth, Hester Prynne's real husband, and by his own self-guilt. Dimmesdale would later confess his sin and die on the scaffold. Dimmesdale was well known by the community and was looked up to by many religious people. But underneath his religious mask he is actually the worst sinner of them all. His sin was one of the greatest sins in a Puritan community. The sin would eat him alive from the inside out causing him to become weaker and weaker, until he cannot stand it anymore. In a last show of strength he announces his sin to the world, but dies soon afterwards. In the beginning Dimmesdale is a weak, reserved man. Because of his sin his health regresses more and more as the book goes on, yet he tries to hide his sin beneath a religious mask. By the end of the book he comes forth and tells the truth, but because he had hidden the sin for so long he is unable to

Reverend Dimmesdale was torn apart by his sin. It would make him do and think evil things. The sin even made him resort to flagellation in order to make the pain of the guilt go away. This self-prescribed torture Dimmesdale eventually lead to his death on the scaffold where he did as he promised Pearl; holding her and her mothers hand in front of the entire community. His torture included him pushing himself to become a better minister to help keep the guiltiness pushed back inside his head. He began working extremely to ensure that where his work would make the community think of him as an even more holy man who had done no wrong. In turn making his guilt rise up even more and then making himself have to push on and try to hide his guilt. Dimmesdale even puts himself through self-beatings. Where once he was a attractive man was now considered a pale, weak, emaciated coward who could barely walk and would have great pains, in which he would grab his chest. His torture brought him to his death where he died upon the very scaffold that Hester, his fellow sinner, had stood to face her punishment.

Dimmesdale begins the story as a handsome, religious figure in the community and slowly becomes more cowardly. He hides himself behind a mask of lies and cannot bring himself to come out from hiding. He tries a few times to get Hester to tell the town that he is the other sinner, but he cannot do it himself. His body and soul shrivels up and eventually dies, but not before he does one act of courage and tells the entire town that he is the ad

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1042
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English