Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis Essay

The pastor in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, struggles to come to terms with his morality after committing adultery, a trial similar to those faced by other sinners in literature but dramatized by Dimmesdale’s status. Through Dimmesdale’s journey to reconcile differing views of his morality, Hawthorne subtly introduces his message that forgiveness must first be found within before it may be accepted externally from others. In the twelfth chapter, the author portrays Dimmesdale’s agonizing introspection by following the pastor’s train of thought as he ascends the scaffold at night and attempts to confess to the air, a step toward public confession. Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale as torn between wanting truth or

His motivations for doing so are unclear even to himself. That night is described as “obscure” with the sky “muffled” by an “unvaried pall of cloud” to create the image of a “dark gray” midnight without light for visibility. The color gray mixes black and white, associated with evil and virtue respectively, to represent the ambiguity of the righteousness of a private confession. A motif in The Scarlet Letter is that the external reflects the internal; the gray night reflects Dimmesdale’s failure to choose truth over sin. In addition, clouds relate to a blockage of light and inability to see, illustrating Dimmesdale’s incapacity to understand himself in his moral confusion. Furthermore, the sky is linked to Heaven or God; Dimmesdale’s ambiguous morality not only clouds his introspection but also prevents him from receiving the guidance or forgiveness of others, such as religious figures. Without external influences, Dimmesdale looks to opposite directions of the moral spectrum but does not have the force to go to either, demonstrating his struggle to understand which side he belongs

Struggling internally, he has locked himself in an “inextricable knot, the agony of heaven-defying guilt and vain repentance.” Dimmesdale’s decision makes his position similar to a knot in that both him and the knot are tied up, unable to be removed from their positions except by the strength that Dimmesdale lacks. Thus, Dimmesdale faces a dilemma; he cannot retain his guilty conscience by keeping matters private if he truly wishes to repent and appease God. However, he is locked in this position because of his inability to resolve to fully repent, as his confused mental and moral states restrain him from choosing righteousness. Because ambiguous morality constrains his actions, Dimmesdale will be incapable of personal growth until he resolves his internal