Dimmesdale: The Two-faced Minister In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of Arthur Dimmesdale as hypocrisy to criticize Puritan society. As the town minister, Dimmesdale is a religious figurehead and revered by his congregation as the embodiment of the holy will; thus, he represents the Puritan faith. As such a person, he is expected to be of the greatest moral standing and set an example of righteousness but in truth, he hides his own sin. He is expected to be bright and pure, guiding the townspeople with divine light and yet, his very name suggests that he is dim and weak. He is morally weak, which allowed him to commit the sin, and weak in character as he does not have the courage or strength to publicly confess…show more content… Another incident to note is how Arthur states that he loves Pearl but only ever gives her attention and affection in secret. He holds her hand on the scaffold, hidden in the darkness of the night, and he kisses her in the forest, far away from the town, but not in the public. This duplicity represents the good intentions of society which are actually underlaid with selfishness. His love for Pearl represents his self-proclaimed love of the truth which is connected to the desired purity of society. However, when asked if he would hold her hand again on the scaffold in the daytime, Arthur replies, “At the great judgement day!...But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!” (105) Like so, Dimmesdale often ignores his relation to Pearl whenever convenient in order to protect his true identity from being revealed to the public, which is referenced as “the daylight of this world.” This illustrates how the people ignore the righteousness of confessing in order to remain respectable in society. Thus, the teachings of Puritanism are not being truly followed due to the enforcement of such in society and this conflict causes the religion’s true codes to be undermined. Dimmesdale’s failings as a moral leader show how imperfect and
