The biggest sin that Dimmesdale commits, aside from the adultery and fornication he already has committed with Hester, is the fact that he does not own up to what he does and continues to lie to his flock. He does this while secretly inflicting private punishment upon himself. He does this by perpetuating the image of the "young divine" that the villagers have bestowed upon him.
Not only does he do this to his flock, but he also does this to Hester. He never supports her, and the only times that Hester and Dimmesdale get to speak and make "plans" for the future are at the times when she orchestrates the meetings. To add to the shocking nature of his behavior, he is neither loving of nor entirely accepting of his own daughter, Pearl, even as he is not entirely loving, forgiving or accepting of himself as we learn at the end of the novel when his chest and back are bared.
The reason why you can say that Dimmesdale commits the greatest sin (if "greater sin" means as between his and Hester's sins) is because Dimmesdale, worldly, educated, sophisticated, in a position of leadership, not only should be setting the example but is bound to know much better than to do what did.
As her minister, Dimmesdale was in a position to comfort and support Hester upon her arrival at the village and considering the knowledge that her husband could have died in a shipwreck. He was not, however, in a position to consider her as a potential love interest. He did just that.
Additionally, Dimmesdale's job in the village is offering moral and spiritual guidance to the flock. He continued to do so while still hiding the truth about Hester. He also allowed Hester to suffer the wrath of the village alone while Dimmesdale himself continued to enjoy his reputation and the respect of the people.
The worst part is that there is a side of Dimmesdale that Hawthorne only touches upon briefly in the novel. It is a part of him that seems to succumb quite easily to the practice of evil even while calling the practice holy. If we were to make a deeper study of Dimmesdale, we might conclude that he is actually a very bad man who forces himself to be or appear to be good in a nearly supernatural way. Thus, Dimmesdale has more trouble abiding by the true Christian way of life than many people. We can only wonder about him, though, as Hawthorne is never specific about Dimmesdale's inner thoughts and just focuses on the man's emotions post-Hester, even though both the narrator and hester intimate that Dimmesdale's sin of adultry was spurred by real love (suggesting it is real love betrayed that drives him secret evil against himself and public repudiation of Hester).
Chillingworth's excuses for his wrath against Dimmesdale are jealousy and his bruised ego. Hester's excuse for her doings is the lack of love and passion in her young life. What are Dimmesdale's excuses for all of his actions toward Hester? Lust? Desire? Ego? True love betrayed by his own cowardice? Which ever is settled upon, his is certainly not the behavior of a true man of God (Hawthorne's suggestion is that Dimmesdale knows this and that this is the root of his cowardice and self-torture).
No comments:
Post a Comment