The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1319 Words

As great effect as emotions can have on someone, even greater is the effect of how one reacts to his emotions. Arguably the two most influential of these emotions are guilt and anger. They can drive a man to madness or encourage actions of vindication. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are subject to this very notion in Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter. Hester simply accepted that what she had done was wrong, whereas Dimmesdale, being a man of high regard, did not want to accept the reality of what he did. Similar to Hester and Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth allows his emotions to influence his life; however, his influence came as the result of his anger. Throughout the book, Hawthorne documents how Dimmesdale and Hester s†¦show more content†¦immeasurably interested in acquiring fixed ideas of God, of the soul, and of their general duties to their Creator and their fellow men; for doubt on these first principles would abandon all their actions to chance and would condemn them in some way to disorder and impotence†. Dimmesdale lost sight of what his â€Å"fixed ideas† concerning his morals were and allowed guilt to control his life. Another effect on Dimmesdale, seen as his guilt slowly wears him down, is how he compares his actions to those of Roger Chillingworth. This is clearly seen when Dimmesdale claims to Hester, We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man s revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so!† (Hawthorne 185). Even in the privacy of the forest, he did not want to accept the full reality of his actions. This is a step forward for him, however, because he chooses to actually say aloud that what he did was wrong, just not as wrong as Chillingworth’s terrorizing of him. Eventually, Dimmesdale is able to confess to the public his sin, and this is due to his longing to escape the torture Chillingworth has been putting him through. Dimmesdale is no longer affected by the guilt that his actions brought about, so Chillingworth has no reason to aggravate him anymore. Sadly for the reverend, the shame