's
common gesture throughout the novel is grabbing his chest, as though he is experiencing
abdominal pain or about to suffer a heart attack. This is a symptom of his internal guilt, both
in regards to his committing adultery withand to his hiding it from public knowledge. Because he
has not confessed his sin, he has not repented of it. Thus, he is a sick man not only
physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well.
Hester always wears the
sign of her shame (the titular scarlet letter) on her chest for all in the community to see,
whereas Dimmesdale internalizes his shame. No one else knows he is the father of . In fact,
everyone assumes he is the most virtuous man in town, which only adds to his feelings of shame
and guilt. He knows he is living a great, hypocritical lie.
No comments:
Post a Comment