Keep the following things in mind while you write:
- Do NOT use first-person narration (ie. "I think Dimmesdale suffers...). It is understood that you are expressing YOUR opinion. It doesn't need to be stated.
- Provide evidence to support your opinion.
- Consider the arguments of those who would disagree with you.
Consider your audience (the rest of the students in the class and me) organize your paragraph in one of the following manners:
- Neutral or agreeable audience: weakest to strongest reasons
- Unknown audience: strongest to weakest, then restate strongest
- Hostile audience: strongest reasons, then weakness of opposing views, followed by remaining arguments
Out of all the characters in the novel, Hester Prynne suffers the most throughout the novel. Her suffering beings right from the start of the novel. She is a married woman, but she has been living alone in New England because her husband stayed in England to take care of business alone. Her loneliness most likely caused her to commit adultery. Because she has a baby, named Pearl, and her husband isn’t in New England, it is obvious that she had committed adultery. Even worse, Hester finds out that her husband knows about her crime, so she has to constantly worry about him and make sure that he doesn’t figure out who the father of Pearl is. That worst part of it all is that Hester’s punishment for adultery is to wear an “A”, representing adultery, for the rest of her life. The experience of public shaming makes Hester’s life a living hell, because she has to go through so much ignominy, and personal torment. Her pain is most notable whenever the book describes her appearance. She is no longer the beautiful woman she once was, and no longer does the sun shine on her. Instead, she is always hidden from the light, and the shame she experiences causes her figure to look unwomanly. The “a” as changed her life forever.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you Adrian, because even though Hester did go through a lot of hardships, she was characterized as a strong character both physically and mentally, unlike Dimmesdale who was described as being frail in physique and weak mentally.
DeleteI also disagree, Hester was a strong woman and was able to endure the shame from the town. Dimmesdale on the other hand was weak physically and mentally knowing that he committed a sin, so he tortured himself, fasted and stayed up at night.
DeleteIn the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale is the character that suffers the most. Since the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale is physically and mentally weak. He can’t stand the sin he made with Hester, so he tortures himself by fasting, vigil, and self injury. He is a very young minister but his health is very poor. To make matters worse, he finds out that the physician who has been tormenting him is the husband of Hester, and he plans an evil revenge to the father. Even though it could be said that Hester had it harder because she is treated unfairly for her acts of adultery and she has to wear the scarlet “A”, Dimmesdale still has it harder. Hester is much braver and stronger than Dimmesdale, but Arthur has to live with a secret that he should reveal to the town. Overall, all the characters in the novel suffer, Arthur Dimmesdale suffers the most.
ReplyDeleteI don't think dimmesdale had it the hardest. Hester prynne did, she went through a lot in 7 years and people we're causing her pain. Arthur dimmesdale chose to starve himself and to make himself feel more and more guilty.
DeleteAlthough I believe Arthur Dimmesdale had gone through a lot of pain, I still believe Hester had it worse. Mainly because Dimmesdale was able to hide his part of the crime, but Hester was punished for her part.
DeleteI disagree with you. The reason why Dimmesdale is so weak is because he did that upon himself as you said instead of coming clean he chooses to torture himself, what for? He chose to starve himself and not sleep. I still think Hester is the one who suffers the most in this novel. I think Dimmesdale seeks for attention unlike Hester.
DeleteIn my opinion, Dimmesdale has suffered more than Hester. Although you may argue that she has to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her life, she has acknowledged her sin, and grown from it. She has become a strong, courageous woman. By the end of the story, people began to admire Hester instead of avoiding her and expressing their pejorative approach. This can be seen when people interpret the "A" to represent "Able" instead of "Adulterer" Dimmesdale does not have the choice of revealing his sin to world. He is a minster and religious role model to Puritan society, making his sin greater than Hester's. Unlike Hester, he has to suffer alone, and bear his pain by physically torturing himself and mentally going insane. Hester has Pearl who shares her comfort, and is her reason to stay strong.
DeleteIn the story the scarlet letter, Hester prynne, one of the main characters in the story suffered the most thought the story. She suffered the most during the story when she was publicly shamed and made to wear the letter "a" on her chest, signifying adultery. Hester was humiliated and had to bear the shame knowing she had a husband and has a child with another man. To make it even worse for her, Hester constantly saw him and it made her feel guilty when her real husband came and found out she had a child. She then had to raise the baby all on her own while people still made it difficult for her to do so. Even while going through all of this and doing it on her own, she never complained. So even though she did suffer the most, she was all the strongest character in the novel.
ReplyDeleteI agree, out of all the characters in the novel, Hester Prynne was the one who got punished the most. Every other character had a choice to keep their secret.
DeleteI agree with you. Being a single mother and being ridiculed for what you did is hard enough, but having to wear your sin also is too far. Hester suffers so much throughout this story and has to stay strong for herself and Pearl.
DeleteI disagree with your reasoning on Hester Prynne being the character within this novel that suffered the most. Even though she suffered through public humiliation, she was a strong woman as you already stated. The reason for Dimmesdale being the character that suffers the most was because of the fact he was weak and unstable physically and mentally.
DeleteI disagree with what you wrote, Jose. Years passed by and people didn't really seem to ridicule Hester as much as they did when she first got the 'A'. Pearl, on the other hand, will forever have to live with the fact that she's a sin. No one is ever gonna be able to tell her other wise because after hearing it so many times, she probably believes it herself.
DeleteIn the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne suffers the most. She was publicly humiliated in front of her entire colony for her sin of Adultery. However, one has to realize that Hester's husband was away a long time, and this loneliness probably is what caused Hester to sin anyway. She must live with this shame and guilt every day while also showing it to the public with the letter “A” she's forced to wear on her chest. Hester must also take care of her new child, a product of her sin. To make it more difficult for her, the man she cheated with, Arthur Dimmesdale, is embarrassingly too weak to reveal himself to the public. Even though Dimmesdale did deteriorate for seven years because of his sin, it’s his own weak fault for not being a man and facing up to it. Now Hester has to carry both her shame and his shame at the same time. It is also difficult that Hester’s real husband has returned to the colony with knowledge of her sin and is doing everything he can to make her life miserable. This includes reserving a spot on a ship that Hester plans to move to Europe in to get way from the unforgiving colony. Despite all this, Hester still found a way to never complain, and lived happily with her daughter for seven years, making her also the strongest of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI like your case for Hester, but I disagree with your point on Dimmesdale. Just because he is weaker doesn't mean he suffers any less; in fact, this makes it even worse on him with not being able to have the strength to confess letting himself and Chillingworth inflict more suffering on him than any other character, in my opinion.
DeleteIn The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one can argue that Hester Prynne, the protagonist, suffers most throughout the novel. Ultimately, that argument is not quite valid. Throughout the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale is living day by day with the unexpressed sin of adultery on his conscious. As the story begins to unravel, we as readers are unaware that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl. When this is revealed, Hawthorne shows us more of Dimmesdale as he is, quite literally, dying from guilt. He suffers by not eating, sleeping, and being constantly reminded of his wrongdoings within his thoughts. Not only does he feel guilty for committing an act of adultery, but also for not standing by Hester and allowing her to face public ridicule and shame alone.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, Hester does not suffer as much as Dimmesdale because as a whole, she is much stronger than he. From the first time she is forced to show the townspeople what she has done, she realizes she cannot hide a sin with another, Pearl. As the years pass, she learns to embrace the A instead of being ashamed of it. Along with that, she becomes immune to the constant judgement of the people. What stands out most about Hester is that she is much more ready to face the townspeople on the scaffold with Dimmesdale and Pearl, hand in hand; Dimmesdale is unable to do so and makes an obvious effort to avoid doing so.
While both suffer greatly, Dimmesdale suffers more; he is weak and unable to own up to what he has done. Hester is a strong, intelligent woman who knows how to handle divergent situations. Hester is much more brave throughout the novel and learns how to cope with her daily struggles. Dimmesdale continues to avoid the truth of the situation at hand and continues to suffer because of this; and that is where Hester and Dimmesdale greatly differ in character.
I like how you included both points of view and how they both suffered throughout the novel. I agree that Dimmesdale suffered the most, because of how weak he is mentally and physically. I also like how you included how the sin affected Hester and how it made her brave throughout the novel.
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ReplyDeleteThe character who suffers the most within the novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a young girl who was born in the name of sin. Pearl, the daughter of the story's protagonist, had it hard as soon as she was born. She was the aftereffect of her parents' sin, and was never given the chance to live a normal life. From the time of her birth and infancy, she was forced to be shown to the townspeople as a token of adultery, forever to be the symbol of wrongdoing. As she grew up, Pearl had to adapt to solitude, and always had the dull feeling of her mother's mistake gnaw into her subconscious, even if she wasn't able to completely understand it. Her imagination was forced to conjure up magnificent stories and imaginary friends to replace the tales a father should have told her before bed, or the playmates she could have had in a school. Instead, she scares the children of the town away as they bully her and her mother.
ReplyDeleteThe most unfortunate part of all this is that Pearl has no clue what she's missing out on.
Of course, Pearl always giggles and smiles, and makes do with her imagination. However, as one grows, one craves human interaction all the more. While her cowardly father hides in shame, and her brave mother is forced to wear the relic of it on her bosom, Pearl is the one who receives punishment while being innocent. As she grows, she will recognize the truth and feel the solitude being forced upon her, and the pain will be too much to bear.
Although you make great points, I disagree when you claim Pearl suffered as much as she did. In the sense of how Hawthorne chose to write this novel, Pearl was born that way because she is believed to be a "demon" child. Pearl chose to not interact with the younger children. In addition to that, (due to her nature), Pearl has always come off to the reader as embracing herself as a living sin, just as Hester has.
DeleteOne also has to consider that Pearl is peculiarly smart, and notices what most do not as well.
What you say abut Pearl is true, but when compared to Dimmesdales mental and physical suffering he has it worse. Pearl may be the embodiment of both Hester's and Dimmesdale's sin, but she is not troubled by this fact nor does she acknowledge it. Since this does not even bother her, she is carefree for most of the novel.
DeleteThroughout the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone, both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale suffer the most from their sins. The reader can agree that even though both created the same sin of adultery, one suffered more than the other. Arthuer Dimmesdale suffered more because although he is looked upon from the Puritan society, he suffers from his hypocricy of sinning. Dimmesdale, unlike Hester, chose to remain silent about his sin, causing him to torture himself. He suffered through his conscious having nothing to ease it. His guilt is literally killing him on the inside. Having to deal with this extreme guilt by himself lead to terrible practices . Dimmesdale, without anyone's saying, tried to fulfill his guilt by finding a form of penance. He began to physically torture himself, starve himself, and prevent himself from sleeping. He felt that even with his original punishments, he deserved even more because of his sin of concealing his original sin. This is something Hester did not have to put up with. Hester had pearl to live and love for which prevented her from suffering more than she already did. He suffers the most by knowing he made Hester Prynne stand out on the scaffold with her sin clearly visible by the A and Pearl, while he hid in the darkness and refused to let his sin be known to everyone. He makes Hester keep him a secret and has her cover for him because he appears as a coward and can not own up to his own sin, which again leads back to his guilt and how he suffers the most.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your statement that Dimmesdale suffers the most. I believe he brought his suffering on himself. It's his fault, maybe if he just accepted that he sinned, instead of denying he wouldn"t be been dying. If only he accepted what he did commit a sin. Dimmesdale brought this upon himself and he deserves it. His suffering is a punishment not a reason to give him sympathy.
DeleteThroughout Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale suffers the most. He suffers the most because he refuses to acknowledge his secret sin.The night scaffold scene represents Dimmesdale’s desire to make his sin known to the world. The dark,mysterious, night keeps Dimmesdale’s true identity hidden from society. Dimmesdale’s life is haunted by his own sin. Everyday, he seeks forgiveness from God, and the Puritan society. He is a religious role model to his town. Because he is a minister, his sin is much greater than Hester’s, and very much unacceptable in a Puritan lifestyle.The more praise and love he receives from society, the more weak he becomes. He cannot bear living with such sin, which leads him to emotionally and physically torture himself. He punishes himself by severely whipping himself until he bleeds, he fasts, and his awful thoughts perturb him throughout the night. His loss of sleep makes him feel insane, as the guilt eats his soul away. Dimmesdale does not accept his sin and remains silent. He knows the public shame, and ridicule Hester has to face everyday, which causes him more distress and pain than one could imagine. Dimmesdale also suffers from Chillingworth’s revenge, as he literally sucks the life out of him, which is why he is known as the “leech.” Overall, Dimmesdale suffers a lot of pain to keep his sin a secret.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and your supporting details in identifying Dimmesdale as a man who suffered the most in this novel. Dimmesdale drowned in pain and embarrassment running away from the reality of his secret from townspeople, the magistrates, Chillingworth, and Pearl who had put pressure upon him in revealing himself as her father. Dimmesdale suffered in different ways making him the weakest character in the novel.
DeleteI agree with the fact that you say that Dimmesdale is haunted by his own sin. It is true because he has Pearl almost always around him and he also has the guilt of not telling the townspeople that he is her father.
DeleteIn the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the character that suffers the most is Pearl, she is sin. Pearl was born into a life of sin and isolation. The girl will forever be an outcast. Pearl was never given a chance at being a normal child in the puritan lifestyle. She was tormented but was also the tormentor to the other children. The young child will never be known as pure and innocent, she will always be the product of sin; she will always be the blame and guilt of her parents. Guilt is a word we connect to The Scarlet Letter because poor Pearl can even look at her father without him feeling ashamed for not accepting her as his own, not accepting her as his sin. Pearl has to now grow up not knowing who she really is; even though she knows her father she knows he cannot accept her and will not ever. If you think about from the day she took her first breath to the day she takes her last, she will always be known as her parents’ mistake, Pearl will always represent what not to do. As Pearl starts to become a teenager and then grow into adulthood she will soon figure out where she comes from and who she is. Now watching people stare and point at her; Pearl looks at those who knew her from a young age on that first day Hester walked out of the jail and ended up on that scaffold. Knowing they never want their children to be like her mother and have child like her. Pearl is sin and she is the one sin no one will accept.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Pearl had not even born yet and she was already viewed as a sin. Pearl's life is difficult from the beginning. She does not know how to feel real feeling because she has never been taught. I
DeleteIn the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne suffers the most. As her punishment she has to walk around with the letter A on her bosom showing everyone what she has done. As the novel stated she had two sins to deal with one being what she has done and two what happened as a result of what she did, Pearl being born. Both these sins people can see and Hester is being judged by everyone. She has to suffer whole life knowing that everyone knows what she did and she can’t do anything to hide it. Another reason why Hester suffers the most in this novel is because she has to be strong for two people including herself. She has to be strong for Pearl not letting anyone come in between of harm her child. Another person she has to be strong for is Dimmesdale. In the novel he asks her to help him and pleads her to guide him the way and help him get through everything that has been happening. Lastly she has to be strong for herself. She is constantly judged by people, but she doesn't let that get to her. She ignores all the judgment from the townspeople. These are the reasons why I think Hester Prynne suffers the most in this novel.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you are coming from picking Hester and respect your decision, although I disagree. Hester did have to be strong for others, but she is a strong person and therefore is fit for that position. She does wear the A and that is a huge disgrace in society at the time, but eventually the people who looked down on her began to accept her and even admire changing the meaning of the name from "adulterer" to "able". There are others in the novel who have it worse.
DeleteI also disagree with you Celeste, Dimmesdale is the character who suffered more. Hester did have to wear the A, but she earned the respect of some of the townspeople for her good deeds. Dimmesdale lived everyday knowing that he commited a sin.
DeleteI disagree as well, I know Hester goes through a lot but she is strong and hasn't really suffered at all. She has been tough through the whole book. Hester did what she had to do to make a good life for Pearl. Although there are times you see her start to break she builds herself up. I believe she is to proud to ever suffer.
DeleteIn the novel, The Scarlett Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale suffered the most physically and mentally. Dimmesdale was a man of religion and to the people of the Puritan society, a role model who followed their perfect ideals and beliefs in a world without sin. However, Dimmesdale was a man of sin, being the secret lover of Hester Prynne and the father of Pearl. Mentally he suffered with the games his conscience played on him. He dealt with the shame and guilt of allowing Hester to take all public humiliation, causing him to beat himself up physically. Dimmesdale stayed up all night, scourged himself with a whip, and fasted which made him physically weaker. Because Dimmesdale is up all night, he wrote sermons about sin to deal with the guilt. Ironically the public idolized Dimmesdale more because of these sermons, causing his guilt to grow. The people did not see these sermons as expression of personal guilt but praised him for symbolism of what sin represents. This only made him weaker physically and mentally as the days moved on, making him the character that suffers the most in The Scarlett Letter.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Natalie. Dimmesdale does endure the most suffering overall, in the aspects of both mental and physical sufferings. Whereas the other characters do not suffer from both.
DeleteI agree with your reasoning about Dimmesdale suffering the most in The Scarlet Letter. He is the only character that suffers both emotionally and physically. Not only that, but he is tortured by Chillingworth. He has to live his life in fear of his sin becoming known. I agree with your statement about his guilt growing more, and more with each sermon. He is pressured by the Puritan Community to be the blessed minister he's always been, even though he has committed a sin much beyond his blessing.
DeleteIn Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, it can be argued that Hester Prynne suffered the most, but that is not true. Hester suffered in the beginning, she was mocked and humiliated by everyone for being an adulterer. Arthur Dimmesdale on the other hand has to suffer with the everlasting punishment of guilt. The guilt made Dimmesdale not only suffer mentally but physically as well. The guilt is so unbearable for Dimmesdale because no one knows of what he did. He shows Hester that she is the lucky one with her sin being out in the open,“Happy you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!”(Hawthorne, 188). Hester only suffered the abuse of the people, which ceased to almost nothing at the end of the novel. Dimmesdale has to suffer with his conscious reminding him every second of everyday of his wrong doing. His conscious reminds him of his horrible doing so much to the point that he physically hurts himself, whipping, having a vigil, and starving himself. Later, he also stands on the scaffold trying to show his sin to the world, because he can no longer take the guilt. The abuse that Dimmesdale conscious has done to him surpasses the abuse of the people to Hester.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Hester learned to live with her scarlet letter and even though she suffered she actually confessed and releases that guilt inside of her. Since Dimmesdale decided to keep it a secret, then he has that everlasting punishment of guilt in his heart.
DeleteIn the Scarlet Letter the main character that suffers the most ,out of the four main characters, is Dimmesdale.Dimmesdale is the one who's suffered the most because he is the one who kept his sin hidden from all the towns peolpe for seven long years, unlike Hester Prynne who lived with her sin out in the open. During this seven year period, Dimmesdale begins to deteriate in overall health.He fasts and meditates during nights in attempt to compensate for the sin that he is haunted by, which leads to him being sickly, and confined to bedrest. When he is confined to bedrest everyone in the town begins to love and praise their minister even more than usual,this leads him to become even more sickly due to his guilt that is built up from him not being open about his sin. This locks him in a continuous cycle that only leads to his health deterriorating until he comes clean of his sin. Unlike Hestor though, Dimmesdale did not have to deal with a child nor ridicule over his seven year period of suffering, but Dimmesdale is not strong physically or mentally to begin with which is no help to him at all.This also reinforces the fact that dimmesdale has suffered the most throghout this novel.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the scarlet letter, Pearl suffers the greatest. She bears the weight of sin which she neither committed nor understands. Socially she is shunned as not only a living symbol of her parents transgression, but also she is also a reminder to all who look upon her of their own sins. Throughout her childhood, Pearl is both spiritually and morally questioned. She is known as the "devil child." Physically, her beauty and lavishly adorned dress exemplify a defiance of puritan code, making her a sign of the immortality of mankind. Everyone notices her as the symbol of her parent’s sin. In all aspects she is a wild thing, known as a "nymph." Pearl is derived of the blackness of sin, but also from the purity of passionate love. She is the living testament of the conflict to Puritan demands; her life seems to flout the standards of the era. Pearl suffers the pain of her mother, but she doesn't understand the reasoning of her the letter A.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree that Pearl appears to be the one who suffers the most. Although she is viewed as the "walking scarlet letter", she was made into the world that way and she embraces the sin and does not suffer from it. Although she is known as the "devil child" and is way against the puritan beliefs, she has yet to recognize her wrong doings and I believe she does not suffer, but she thrives off the sin in a way that people do not quite know what she is, whether its an ordinary child, a demon, or a nymph.
DeleteI would also like to disagree with you Kate. Pearl does in fact suffer from the shame of being the product of Dimmesdale's and Hester's sin but not as much as the amount of shame put on Hester. Hester had to endure being an outcast of society because of this sin while Pearl was just a child that was free from the opinions of society and had little comprehension of what it meant to be human.
DeleteI disagree with you Alyssa, yeah she is the "walking scarlet letter," but she doesn't deserve to be an outcast or recognized as that. It wasn't her fault for being brought into life because of her parents sins. She's only a child, she doesn't know what to do about her parents. She carries the sin around with her and she is tormented by other kids because of her parents wrong doings.
DeleteI agree with you, Kate. Pearl is the "walking Scarlet Letter". From the day she was born, she was known as a "demon child" or a "sin". She was known for all that because of her mothers's incident. Pearl suffers the most because she didn't choose for all this to happen to her, she's born into it. She's not only seen differently by the towns people, but even by her own mother.
DeleteHester Prynne suffered the most in the book The Scarlet, when she underwent the troubles of the strict Puritan life. She suffered through the pain of raising a demon child, whom she named “Pearl”. Although she may have loved Pearl, she had to carry the burden of the “sin” in which she helped create. She had to raise Pearl alone without Dimmesdale. Pearl is a rambunctious child, considering the fact she was an “imp of evil, emblem and product of sin” who was uncontrollable at times (90). This made it even more difficult for Hester. Hester had to deal with the pain of people disowning her for her sin. A woman says aloud to other citizens “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (49). Despite the rudeness and unkindness of the villagers in the community, Hester Prynne had the strenght to give back to the community by helping them and show kindness. The townsfolk would say “ Such helpfulness was found in her --- so much power to do and power to sympathize” (158). She had strength and she helped make the letter “A” stand for “Able”. Hester suffers the pain from the townsfolk and from Peal, but she was strong enough to over come these and continue on through-out her life.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Hester has dealt with everything through the novel, I believe Dimmesdale had the most suffering. He has to deal with Pearl's unacceptance, and the secret of keeping his sin away from all the towns people.
DeleteI would have to disagree. I see how Hester has it difficult with the pain from everyone in the town but, Dimmesdale has it even more difficult being a minister and hiding such a large secret from everyone.
DeleteThe character that suffers the most in The Scarlet Letter would be Hester. She begins her suffering with being sent away to the new world with a promising word by her husband that he will meet her there later on. She next tries to cope with her grievances by committing an act of adultery and soon has her life changed forever. She gets impregnated and embarrassed in front of her community and has to suffer for eternity by wearing the letter, “A”, her chest that shows her sin. The worst part is that there are two halves to this sin and she only has to suffer while Dimmesdale gets to keep his sin within himself and continue to live his life. Pearl on the other hand is the result of the sin, but she cannot be blamed for anything since it is not her fault. Lastly, Chillingworth comes close to Hesters suffering in ways that he has to see his wife fall in love with someone else, while he becomes a monster searching for revenge. In all aspects Hester is the major sufferer, because everyones sin is revolving around her. It is her act of adultery that makes Dimmesdale sick, makes Pearl the outcome of a sin, and turns Chillingworth into a monster.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree Matt, although Hester does have to burden the A so does her daughter Pearl. Pearl has to burden her mother being a outsider and she has to deal with herself being a sin. These things combined already easily shows how Pearl has it the hardest of all characters.
DeleteI would also have to disagree Matt. I can see how you think Hester suffers the most, but in reality, she handles the sin pretty well and actually grows and becomes ultimately stronger from it. She takes care of Pearl no matter if she is her sin or not, and helps Dimmesdale even though she made him that way. She is doing what ever she can to stay strong, and she really does not struggle to me. She does a good job at keeping her composure unlike Dimmesdale, who i think is the one who really does struggle the most.
DeleteThroughout the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale undergoes the greatest hardships. Unlike Hester Prynne who has come to terms with her sin and the public shame that follows it, Dimmesdale is incapable of doing so. Being a man of God he is not suppose to commit sins and if he does he should come forth with it, he preaches of good but he himself does not follow what he preaches himself. With this on his mind he lives the majority of his seven years tormenting himself with the guilt and shame of his sin, and as he starves himself, the more the town’s people worship him which causes more harm then good. Not only to add on to his troubled consciousness, his ‘sin’ is perplexed and disgusted by him. His daughter not only will not tolerate his presence but also mocks him by always asking Hester why he holds his hand over his heart. Dimmesdale’s sin affects him to the point that when he finally knows he’s going to leave he accepts his sin for what it is instead of coming clean to those around him. His mind is shadowed, taken over by the ‘Black Man’ possessed with unholy thoughts and tempted, impulsive unabated actions. Dimmesdale, once a man of prayer and God has become a man of evil from the secrets of his sin, even though his sin is right in the eyes of the open known as a ‘nymph’, will stay unknown for now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Dimmesdale is a minister and preaches good but inside he turns into an evil man because of the shame of his sin.
DeleteI agree with you, Dimmesdale is a holly man and no matter what has to say aloud his sins for forgiveness. It is Dimmesdale's fault for not asking for forgiveness in the beginning. Dimmesdale thinks of asking for forgiveness many times through-out the novel, but it's so hard for him because he's a man of God. He is a weak, frail person, and he hasn't even come clean yet like Hester did. Plus, he has Chillingworth torturing him. Now that I read your statements on Dimmesdale, you changed my mind. I believe now Dimmesdale did suffer the most.
DeleteThroughout the Scarlet letter, there are a plethora of people that suffer due to act of adultery committed by Reverend Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. Each person has their own different suffering, but the person who suffers the most is Reverend Dimmesdale. Both physically and mentally Dimmesdale has to endure this suffering. Some of his sufferings are brought upon by others, and some of his sufferings are brought upon by himself. One of the main reasons for his suffering is his role as Reverend. He is constantly suffering because of his role in the Puritan church. As a Reverend, people look to him as an example and Dimmesdale does not see himself as a great example since he did commit adultery, as stated in the book, “It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him!” (pg.139) This means that the more the people love him the more he starts to suffer because he is not the person they think he is and he just wants to let it all out. Another reason for his suffering is because of the fasting, and whippings he gives himself. As stated in the book, “ … under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. …it had been his custom… to fast.” (pg.141) He does these things to try and purify himself from the sin that he has committed, but it does not work. All the things Dimmesdale has to suffer through because of the sin he committed, plus Chillingsworth is still messing around inside of him making him suffer even more. These things as well as the fact that Dimmesdale has to conceal his sin given his gregarious position in the Puritan life makes him the person that suffers the most from this since. Some may argue that Hester suffer the most given that she has to wear the letter “A” to show her sin, but that does not compare to dealing with all that Dimmesdale has to go through. Keeping things concealed and hidden while suffering physically and mentally is very hard and difficult especially for 7+ years. Thus making the person who suffer the most being Dimmesdale.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth undoubtedly has suffered the most. When we first meet him he definitely comes off to be the antagonist, but if the story did not follow Hester Prynne, and instead was from the point of view of an outsider looking in then it is clear to see the Chillingworth is the victim. He had fallen in love with a stunning women who he surly planned to spend the rest of his life with and sent her off to a new country with plans to meet her there. Unfortunately things did not go as planned and he had been kidnapped by an Indian tribe and was assumed dead. Only to come back and find out that his former lover had not been faithful and committed adultery with a so called minister named Arthur Dimmesdale. Not only had she not been faithful but she had conceived a child with this evil man. Filled with rage, he devoted his life to revenge which is a dangerous thing. As Buddha once said, "Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." This strongly relates to Chillingworth as he is so bent on causing pain to Hester and Dimmesdale that he is throwing away his own life, even though as any devout Puritan would know they are both already doomed to a life of pain and suffering for the sin they have committed. Chillingworth has truly suffered far more than any other character.
ReplyDeleteI disagree Adam, although I see your point where we are not in Chillingworth's perspective you still have to notice how much of an antagonist Roger really is. Although he "loves" Hester Prynee, he is constantly making her life and Dimmesdale's life extremely hard.
DeleteI also disagree with you Adam because Chillingworth indeed gets his heart broken by Hester Prynne but he could have easily forgiven her and Dimmesdale for this but instead inflicts even harsher suffering to Dimmesdale both physically and mentally.
DeleteI disagree Adam, Chillingworth does not suffer the most. Yeah in the beginning he was nice, but throughout the story, he undergoes a change where his complexion became uglier and the way he acts towards others such as Dimmesdale. In the story he is known as the "leech," he tries to suck out the life of Dimmesdale by tormenting him while keeping him alive at the same time.
DeleteI disagree with your point on believing that Chillingworth has suffered the most because throughout the story he makes Dimmesdale suffer in a very torturous way. He probably wasn't really hurt. I do agree though that he may have been heartbroken, but just as Alex said, he could have forgiven her. People do make mistakes.
DeleteIn the novel The Scarlet Letter, one of the characters that suffers the most throughout this story would have to be Arthur Dimmesdale. He is bringing this pain amongst himself because he refuses to let his sin go. He does not open up to anyone neither does he confess what he has done. Arthur torments himself with his own guilt. Not only is Dimmesdale suffering mentally but he is also suffering physically. Arthur feels as if he should get punished for what he has done, therefore he beings to starve himself, and prevents himself for sleeping. This lack of sleep and lack of nutrition is causing Dimmesdale to loose his mind. He is so weak and can't handle the situation he has put himself in. The fact that the whole town is always counting and supporting Dimmesdale is only making him die on the inside. He knows that he does not deserve the love and appreciation, but he still refuses to let out his sin. The guilt on the inside is what will forever make him suffer.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you on the fact that Dimmesdale is the character that suffers most because of refusing to open up about his sin. He would have been much better off after just coming out with it and growing stronger as Hester did.
DeleteIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the character that could be said to have endured the most suffering is Hester Prynne, but through out the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale seems to suffer more than Hester. As the story goes on, we soon find out that Arthur Dimmesdale is indeed the father of Pearl, the product of both his and Hester’s sin. Hester Prynne confesses to her acts on the scaffold and has faced the shame of the town’s people whereas Dimmesdale is too afraid to commit to this sin. Eventually, this sin dwells upon Arthur’s soul and demoralizes everything that we used to know about Dimmesdale. The guilt that follows this sin has been killing him both physically and mentally, whether it be fasting or whipping himself to cope with it. The only reason Dimmesdale suffers this much is because he does not possess the strength to confess his wronging’s and accept the sin, unlike Hester Prynne who has gained a munificent amount of strength from accepting her sin and expressing “openness”. That is why Dimmesdale’s suffering differs from Hester’s suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alex. Some argue that because Dimmesdale inflicts the pain on himself therefore he doesn't suffer, but because of how weak he is mentally it leads him to take more suffering altogether. Dimmesdale has to keep his sin completely bottled up and have it eat away at him, which no other character has to deal with in the unforgiving Puritan environment.
DeleteIn Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl definitely suffers the most out of the four main characters. First, her mother is looked down upon by society for carrying the burden of the A. Since Pearl was born from the adultery that occurred, she is also perceived as a sin to the townspeople. She can be very kind but sometimes she acts like a devil child or impish/elvish creature. Even Mr.Wilson calls Pearl an elf, “Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies whom we thought to have left behind us…”(page 106). Pearl was also often isolated from society just like her mother. But the thing that makes Pearl suffer the most, is being hidden in the shadows with her parents. Sunlight tends to stay away from her mother, and Dimmesdale does not walk proudly with Pearl and her mother as they go through the towns. Pearl said, “Will he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?” Not now, dear child,” answered Hester.”(page 208)”. Pearl constantly lives with the fact that she is a sin raised by a sin, and is considered abnormal. That’s why Pearl suffers the most out of all the main characters.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting claim you make. I like where you went with this but would have to disagree with you. Pearl does suffer, but she does not suffer as much as Dimmesdale. Pearl only suffers emotionally, whereas Dimmesdale suffers both physically and emotionally.
DeleteI see where you're coming from Matthew, but her suffering does not come from others people suffering. Yes she is the outcome of a sin, but we have to realize she is and has the ability to become her own person. As we see her growing it is shown that she starts expressing herself more often and speaking her mind and she realizes she is the result of sin which seems not to bother her.
DeleteI admire you thinking differently Matthew, however I firmly disagree with you. Pearl does not act like that of a devil child, but instead is seen by others as a impish or evil creature. She is too young to fully comprehend what is happening and could never truly understand her surroundings. By that I mean she does not know whether the townspeople like or dislike her, nor is she aware of her mother's sins. I understand she is in a poor situation, but she has not really suffered per say.
DeleteIn the novel The Scarlett Letter, the character which suffers most would have to be Arthur Dimmesdale. He is constantly suffering from keeping the secret of his sin hidden from the public but constantly having it on his mind. The townspeoples praise and support only adds on to the disappointment and shun he believes he would receive if the secret where to be out, stoping him from ever revealing it and only adding on to the destruction of himself. Dimmesdale has to live with the fact that Hester, alone, has to be unaccepted in Puritan society and take full responsibility for the sin they both created all while wearing an "A" to let not one day pass with out the acknowledgment of it. Making Hester become strong and individualistic while causing the complete opposite for dimmesdale. The guilt causes him to inwardly loose his mind and soon after physically weaken, completely changing him forever.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you Joanna. Some parts yes he does suffer, but it was his fault for keeping that secret away from everyone. He also was a hypocrite. Throughout the story the sin drags him down because he chooses not to confess his wrong doings. Towards the end he regained his health in a way because he was going away with hester and pearl.
DeleteIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale is the one who has suffered the most. Since the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale has been a character whose life has been a secret to everyone in town, except for Hester Prynne. He has been facing part of his life with tremendous guilt because unlike Hester, who has shown herself to everyone in town and faced them all with confessing her sin, he has not. Dimmesdale, being a minister, is partly the reason why he has been refusing to confess what he has done. The days keep going on and those days soon become into seven years. All this guilt that Dimmesdale has been holding onto keeps on growing. He has basically been almost living by the side of his child without being able to tell anyone. At one point in the novel, Dimmesdale becomes evil because after so long of keeping this secret inside, a demon has taken over him. His mind makes him do crazy, harmful things because he does not allow himself to show who he truly is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Patricia because Keeping a huge secret like that always takes an affect on a person, and that is very obvious in Dimmedale. He is a completely different person and probably will never be the same.
DeleteSuffering is a part of life and usually comes with consequences from performed crime or sin. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne suffer for their sin. In spite of the fact that Hester Prynne had been humiliated and outcasted from the Puritan society, she constructed courage from the obstacles that confronted her; she has learned from the scarlet letter and its dose of Sorrow Despair and Solitude. She wore her pain on her bosom. While the other bitter sweet pain, danced alongside her. The reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, had his pain derived from committing adultery and lack of courage to stand beside Hester. Unlike Hester, he had nothing to live for. The hidden guilt absorbs the clergyman’s being, and he slowly decayed. The change became noticeable throughout the chapters not only in his physical features, but in his soul. He could not live with himself, he deliberately performed harm on himself, and ironically, becomes praised more by the congregation and townspeople. His suffering is larger than his happiness, and made him believe death would be the answer to rid him of it. He tells old Chillingworth that, “ [he] could be well content, that labors, and sorrows, and sins, and pains, should shortly end with him, and what is earthly of them be buried in his grave.” The person whom he spends his greater time with, is drilling into him, exposing his pain even further! He wears two faces; a holy reverend in his town and sinful man, but is not quick to show the second physiognomy. In Chapter 17, Dimmesdale spoke out his envy for Hester when they met in the woods and said, “Happy are you, Hester, that wear that scarlet letter openly on your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of seven years’ cheat, to look into an eye that recognized me for what I am!” He is the personification of “human frailty and sorrow”, has not possessed the strength Hester has, nor does he gain strength from his suffering. Indeed, the character to have endured the most, although not most pitied, suffering.
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The Scarlet Letter”, Arthur Dimmesdale suffers the most out of the four main characters. Being a minister in the Puritan times, Dimmesdale finds it very difficult to bear with his sin, adultery. He chooses to keep his sin a secret, which, over time, makes it harder and harder to live with. Dimmesdale punishes himself by choosing not to sleep, not to eat, and whipping himself on his back because of the sin. Dimmesdale lives with Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, who makes Dimmesdale even sicker by torturing him and making him feel guilty when he finds out he is hiding this sin. Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale’s daughter and the product of sin, rejects him because he choses to keep the sin a secret. Pearl really want him to stand on the scaffold and reveal his secret to everyone in the town and she will not accept Dimmesdale until he completes the task. These reasons show that Arthur Dimmesdale suffers the most out of the four main characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Dimmesdale suffered on a emotionally and psychically level, so much so that it contributed to his death. But, I do not belive that the Mr. Chillngworth played a factor into Dimmesdale's guilt.
DeleteI agree with you Anna, Dimmesdale suffers greatly from not revealing his sins to the townspeople and get rejected by Pearl and Hester. I also agree that Chillingworth had a negative effect on Dimmesdale.
DeleteIn the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by far the character that suffers the most is Hester’s daughter, Pearl. Although many people may agree differently and think Dimmesdale suffers the most, Pearl actually does. From the day she is born until the day she dies, she will forever be known as a sin. Now who on Earth would want to live being known as that? When she was an infant, her mother tried to cover up her A using Pearl; covering one sin with another. Her own mother doesn’t even see her as an actual person sometimes and her father totally neglects her and acts as if he had no idea she is his offspring. Pearl doesn’t get along very well with people, but animals seem to like her very much. Pearl would think that the very first man to show her love and care for her and her mother would be her father, but actually he acts like they are just other towns people. Pearl suffers most because she’s going to have to live with the fact that she’s a sin and no one will ever see her any different.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, pearl is considered a sin and most likely did have it the hardest out of everyone. However other characters suffered more "pain" than she did.
DeleteThat's an important point Jose, pearl did most likely have it the hardest, but she is the one that the sorrow did not affect because she was alsways happy, and cheerful everyday. Hester had actually pain, both mental and physical.
DeleteIn The Scarlet Letter, the character who experiences the most physical suffering is Arthur Dimmesdale. His emotional pain led him to inflict a “bloody scourge” and continuously whipped and tortured his own self. One can argue that Hester Prynne must deal with more psychological pain because she is unaccepted by society, but the mental suffering Dimmesdale goes through is far worse, even if he is the weaker character. During his vigils “his brain often reeled and visions seemed to flit before him”, which indicates how much of a hold he had over his insanity. Dimmesdale has to deal with this sin as a secret, which tears him apart. His mind is under constant stress and he is even pushed over the edge when Chillingworth continues to ask him about his sin, where he yells “No! -not to thee! -not to an earthy physician”. With Chillingworth mentally eating away at him, the reverend loses almost all of his self-control. Because Arthur Dimmesdale undergoes pain consistently throughout the novel and because he is such a fragile person, he suffers the most.
ReplyDeleteI see where you're coming from Stevie, but we also have to accept the fact that it is Dimmesdale himself who is hurting himself. Dimmesdale is letting himself feel guilty and he is the one hurting himself so he can control. Therefore I really do not feel sorry for him or see him as the one suffering the most.
DeleteI agree with you Matt. Dimmesdale is doing this to himself, and there is no other reason he can't let go of the stress and confess other than his own weakness. I do see your point though Stevie, that Dimmesdale is torturing himself, but that's his own fault.
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