The Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

Hester’s secrets harm many people whom she care about. The first person is Dimmesdale. She does not tell Dimmesdale who Roger Chillingworth really is. To Hester, this was the right hting to do because she made a promise and she would not break it. She remained loyal to her word. Because of Dimmesdale’s lack of knowledge on the matter, he slowly withers away from Chillingworth’s abuse. This eventually leads to Dimmesdale’s death which hurts Hester and Pearl as well being that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father. Also, by not letting people know Chillingworth’s true identity, it allowed him to manipulate the townspeople. Hester’s other secret was about Dimmesdale. Nobody knew he was the father of Pearl. This hurt Dimmesdale because the guilt of him never confessing his sin leads to his demise. When he dies, Pearl no longer has a father. Also, keeping Dimmesdale a secret meant Hester could never be with the man she loved. By not letting the townspeople know, they looked doooown on her even more, and she was forced to face the consequences alone. The last person harmed was Chillingworth. By not telling Chillingworth it made him want to know even more. Ge dedicates his whole life to finding this person until he changes into an evil old man. Although Hester is a person who did not want to show unloyalty or dishonorability, she should have recognized the neccessity of exposing her secret to Dimmesdale and told him the truth. If Dimmesdale knew Roger Chillingworth’s true identity he could have kept his guard up and stayed his distance. If Hester truly loved Dimmesdale she would have risked her self-image to save him. Maybe she wanted Dimmesdale to experience some suffering just as she kad to for so long.