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Scarlet Letter By Hawthorne
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Scarlet Letter By Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter, uses physical appearance to mirror a characters physiological or spiritual state. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, whom the reader may remember as having taken a brief part in the scene of Hester Prynne's disgrace, is a complex character. "The young minister, whose health had severely suffered, of late, by his too unreserved self-sacrifice to the labors and duties of the pastoral relation." Hawthorne is making the reader aware of Mr. Dimmesdale leaving them to ask themselves why he is getting sick. Is it because he has some hidden guilt or sin? Dimmesdale is sick because of the unknown truth between him and Hester Prynne, which leads up to Hester Prynne's daughter Pearl, the scarlet vision. "Pearl, that wild and flighty little elf, stole, softly towards him, and, taking his hand in the grasp of both her own, laid her cheek against it; a caress so tender . . . little Pearl's unwanted mood of sentiment last no longer; she laughed, and went capering down the hall." Pearl, not known to be kind to anyone except her mother, laid her cheek on Reverend Dimmesdale's hand to show there is a connection between Dimmesdale and little Pearl. Furthermore, old Roger Chillingworth is an important character to the story. "Hester Prynne . . . perceived what change had come over his features, - how much uglier they were, - how his dark complexion seemed to have grown duskier, and his figure more misshapen, - since the day...
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