"By their deeds shall ye know them." We often judge people by what they do; therefore, we consider people who commit cruel or reprehensible acts corrupt, base or amoral. In literature, however, authors often introduce us to characters whom we learn to like or even respect, despite their deeds.

Write an essay about one such character for whom you developed admiration or compassion. Briefly explain why you felt his or her behavior to be condemnable or contemptible, and how the author's techniques influenced you to admire that person. Do not summarize the plot. (40 minutes)"

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we find ourselves in the middle of a story in Puritan Massachusetts. A married woman was found to be pregnant, with a child that was not her husband’s, as he had not been seen in years. Hester Prynne was branded with a scarlet A, and forced to live outside the small community.  The community watched and judged as the woman raised her daughter without her unknown lover. The authorities condemned her, and called all others to see her as an example.  The ailing Reverend Dimmsdale was among the judges who watched as Hester and her unborn child were sentenced. We come to find out that Dimmsdale was the unnamed partner, and had been suffering inwardly as he watched the events unfold.

                Dimmsdale allows the guilt of his actions to consume him. He creates a hell for himself because of his great sins. As a devoted minister, he taught the value of living a chaste and moral life, while he himself had committed a sin of the highest degree. In the Puritan community, Dimmsdale was revered for his morality, and his ability to preach the correct principles for the dogmatic congregation. Despite his age, he was seen as an authority on maintaining the laws and statues expected of those in the settlement. He was ailing, all around him could see. He had a mystery illness, and looked to be much older than his actual age. Reverend Dimmsdale had created a personal punishment for himself, because his actions were not known to those around him. He did not confess to being a party in the adultery, but he suffered more because of the inward guilt he felt for Hester’s public suffering.  

                The Reverend’s health continued to suffer. He became friends with a mysterious doctor who moved into the small community. The doctor was Hester Prynne’s husband, Roger Chilingsworth. He suspected that the Reverend had been the man with which his wife had an affair. He made it his mission to cause more suffering to the worsening condition of Dimmsdale.  As his suspicions were confirmed, Chilingsworth did his best to ruin the life of the already guilt ridden man with whom he lived.  Dimmsdale’s life became consumed with the guilt he felt for abandoning his child, and leaving his lover to suffer alone in silence.

Dimmsdale’s actions in the public were self-preserving, and cowardly.  Nathaniel Hawthore, however allowed the reader to see the suffering that was actually felt by a man who to others seemed to be pure. The suffering caused by the guilt, and by the infliction of a scorned husband, allows compassion to be felt. It is felt even more strongly when, at the conclusion of the novel, we see the scarlet “A” branded into the flesh of the dead Reverend in the center of the town, for everyone to see.  We see, through his death by self-inflicted guilt, that the child, and the lover were never far from his mind, and that the unnamed man suffered more than the publicly condemned woman.