How The Letter A Affected Various Characters In The Scarlet Letter Ess

How The Letter A Affected Various Characters In The Scarlet Letter The letter A affected many characters in Nathaniels classic, The Scarlet Letter. It affected not only the main characters of the story, but also of the townspeople who would see this letter embroidered on Heaters dress on a daily basis; and thus it would serve to re-enforce their own repulsion at the woman and her sin, and would inflate their self-righteousness further. The puritans seemed on the surface to be religious and pious, but I felt they were extremely judgmental and unforgiving, who found joy in other peoples lapses in their faith. However, this letter affected greatly the lives of Heater, her daughter Pearl, and Pearls father, the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. In the story, Arthur Dimmesdale is a young eminent minister in Boston and also the father of Pearl. He is a tortured man who over the course of this story spanning seven years, suffers guilt at his sin of adultery and having to watch Heater being shunned and living in isolation, raising the product of their sin alone. He constantly places his hand over his hearth when agitated, which to me symbolized the letter A not only embroidered on his lovers gown, but seemingly embroidered over his own heart. His health is quite bad, and ironically, it is thanks to Roger Chillingworths (Heaters husband) potions that he is able to stay alive. When Chillingsworth earns a reputation of being a good physicians, he helps maintain Dimmesdales health but discovers what Dimmesdales identity, and thus begins torturing and intending to kill this young minister already ravaged by his sin, deteriorating every time he sees the A that has become a part of Heater. By chapter 11, his guilt has reached it peak, as Hawthorne writes It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him! Itwas his genuine impulse to adore the truth, and to reckon all things shadow-like, and utterly devoid of weight or value, that had not its divine essence as life within their life. (page 124) At the end of the story, he finally admits to being Pearl's father and reveals that he has a scarlet letter branded into his own flesh . The times Heater was placed on the scaffold and publicly denounced for her sin, she faced this alone. Dimmsdale suffered through this, too frightened and ashamed to admit his own responsibility. Dimmesdale ascended the scaffold times before, but not in the sight of the public. In the end,Dimmesdale climbed the scaffold because his heart and his morale would no longer allow him to remain in secret with his sanity. Dimmesdale dies upon the scaffold while holding Esters hand, and when Pearl Kisses her father at the end of the story, to me this represents her destroying the bitter pall this simple letter had over their lives. Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was broken. The great scene of grief in which the wild infant bore a part had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her fathers cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor for every do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. Toward her mother too, Pearls errand as a messenger of anguish was all fulfilled. (P. 226) Pearls life was also affected by the letter A, as she was the product of the adultery, and the reminder to the town of the parents sin. She stands on the scaffold facing the town with her mother as an infant, and with her face pressed against the scarlet A, it seems she is branded from that moment on. She grows up to be a very wild and undisciplined child, perhaps because she is aware of the circumstances of her birth, and the fact they have no contact with the outside world, living in isolation outside of the town. Pearl is punished from birth becoming a true innocent victim of circumstance. This letter A has caused Pearl to live in isolation away from other children, Pearl is characterized as a living version of the scarlet letter. She constantly causes her mother and Dimmesdale torment and anguish throughout the novel. Pearl is described as extremely beautiful, but lacking certain Christian qualities. It is ironic that after Arthur Dimmesdale dies, Pearl becomes a normal