An Explanation Of The Basis For The — страница 2

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Dimmesdale believes that his sin therefore surpasses any sinful acts of the townspeople. Until his confession a guilty conscience consumes Dimmesdale, it deteriorates his mental and physical well-being. By committing the act of adultery, hiding it, and then compounding that secret by contemplating running away from his responsibilities, Dimmesdale’s internal torment comes to a head. He realizes that he has fallen to Hester’s corruption and that his only escape can come from confession, so that he may finally repent for his sin. By accepting Hester Prynne s advice to escape their problems by running away, the minister, Arthur Dimmesdale figuratively signs his soul over to the devil. He condemns himself to becoming a child of evil and wanders away from the grace of God. His

personal morality as a priest and an individual of conscience does not allow him to take the path that he believes to be that of the sinner. His morality makes him confess his sins to cleanse his soul before his inevitable demise. By heeding Hester s advice and thereby embracing sin, Dimmesdale’s only true repentance is death.