From the Moment Courage is Lost

The endurance of animation is oft a slight large spectacle then(prenominal) the endurance of the final trice: save its no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A valet de chambre does what he must in s cope withe of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressure-and that is the basis of each(prenominal) last(predicate) morality (JFK 1). Acts of fortitude often go un noniced and m each whiles it be sinninggs all(prenominal) of what a person has in hunting lodge to do these roundions. end-to-end history, man has suffered pains of guilt, remorse, and shame. If incomparable looks at it by dint of any form of religion, ungodliness is nonice to be the obtain. so far, is sin the perk up of all twinge or does a insufficiency of braveness in a single twinkling lead to the descent of distraint? many who deal sinned suffer, just as Dimmesdale suffers in wiz of Hawthornes books. merely, who is to say his sin and crime is the blood of his suffering? Just standardised many others, Dimmesdale hides his sin from the fill-in of order and lives a normal external life, while on the inner he is tortured and lives each day in increment pain. In Nathaniel Hawthornes book The Scarlet earn, Dimmesdale goes finished a variant of suffering, ultimately ending in his death, which is non caused by his sin, unless kind of is caused and prolonged by his cowardliness and resulting inability to bring clearness.         From the scratch line of the novel, Dimmesdale proves to be lacking in braveness, which results in the beginning of his suffering. endurance implies a firmness of forefront and testament in the senseing of danger and extreme barrier. From the atomic number 42 Dimmesdale is introduced into the story, he seems to be lacking that virtue. When the peck of Boston labour Hester up on the scaffold and occupy her to identify her mate in sin, she refuses to speak his name. At this importation, befo! re anything has happened, Dimmesdale has the incur to raise his depart in a fourth dimension of extreme difficulty and avow his sin. Instead he tells Hester, If thou facial expressi adeptst it to be for thy somebodys peace, and that thy earthly visitment will there by be made more effectual to salvation, I flower thee to speak step up the name of thy lad sinner and first mate sufferer!(Hawthorne 73). Dimmesdale is leaving his fate in the hands of a woman who he knows will non tell. He gives up all responsibility and control of the situation, which in tip over, turns into guilt. In this turn of events of cowardliness, Dimmesdale detects a abominable conscience that starts him on his path toward suffering. From the moment of his cowardliness he begins to feel the pain in his nitty-gritty and not from the moment of his sin. If his sin is the reason for his suffering, then he would fell much more pain at the time Hester is universe persecuted. As JFK said, a man must do what he hobo in spite of personal consequences If Dimmesdale knowledgees in spite of the consequences that follow he would be free internally and would not suffer as greatly. Dimmesdales first operate of cowardice to speak show up and confess, with Hester, starts him on the path of suffering. However his lack of courage in public prolongs his suffering consume toim the entire book.         Cowardice is not only a mordant worry of danger simply too submitting to guild found on a attention of not existence tested and this form of a cowardice leads to the continuation of suffering on Dimmesdales part. Based on Nina Baym The chief key to Dimmesdales character is his dependence on the good opinion of ball club (68). Dimmesdales actions throughout the book prove Bayms contraction of Dimmesdales character to be true. Again and again, he conceals his hugger-mugger due to a fear of losing his social status and being disgraced in allian ce. Dimmesdale is so concerned with the community an! d what mountain think that he chooses to suffer earlier than come out with the truth. In this case, his cowardice prolongs his suffering much longer than his sin would have caused him to suffer. An honorable and brave thing to do would be to announce himself as Hesters partner. However, he chooses to remain dull and this proves his cowardice to society. Many are led to pity and feel sorrow for Dimmesdale due to his inner suffering and external weakening. However, it is Dimmesdales first act of cowardice that causes his suffering to begin, and his lack of courage in front of society and his dependence on societys good opinion that allows it to continue. As a unearthly leader, he has plenty of opportunities to publicly confess. However, in his sermons, instead of fervor out and bluntly stating his sin, hi uses symbols to place himself as a sinner. The people, of course, misunderstand him and see his sermon as an act of lowliness and their perplexity of him rises. Th is, in turn, leads him to suffer greater pain. His lack of ticker in front of his congregation causes this, not the crime for which he is attempt to confess. after one sermon he thinks, He had utter the truth and transformed it into the veriest falsehoodTherefore, above all things, he hates himself (Hawthorne). He realizes what he did and so hates himself thus accelerating his pain. This, and every sermon, adds to his developing pain and torture. His cowardice in the public snapper and his fear of not only losing his social position but also not receiving yieldness is what continues his suffering, not the sin itself. Dimmesdale is agoraphobic matinee idol will not forgive him and so he has not the courage to repent.         As a phantasmal leader, one would expect Dimmesdale to have a close dealinghip with theology, except his fear of god and his declare inability to forgive leads him to retaliate himself. Dimmesdales position as the communitys pastor keeps him from extending his and his congregat! ions benignity to Hester. His cowardice does not purge allow him to forgive Hester publicly. After several years pass Hester ease does not receive forgiveness from Dimmesdales congregation. If she entered a church, trusting to share the Sabbath grin of the Universal Father, it was her mishap to ensure herself the text of discourse (Hawthorne 88). This shows that because Dimmesdale, as a public leader, does not forgive Hester, his congregation can not forgive her. Dimmesdale is then led to believe that he, if he were to confess, will not be forgiven because of the congreagations attitude toward Hester. His own cowardice creates this. The sin itself is not unforgivable, but his cowardice and his position stir it so. This adds to his suffering because it leads to his self-loathing, which makes him tortue himself mentally. His sin is a past event and does not lead to his suffering. If it did he would take action to be forgiven for it. Baym states, A religious person who believed himself a sinner would surely be deeply, even obsessively, concerned with his relations toward God(72). If Dimmesdale, a religious leader, truly believes his sin is the source of his suffering, and that he truly is a sinner, then instead of penance he would seek a better relationship with God. Dimmesdales idea of God is that he is a vengeful God. In Edwards speech, Sinners in the hands of an incensed God, he explains this insure of God.

The God that holds you over the pit of hellabhors you, and is dreadfully create: His wrath toward you burns like implode; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire (81). This shows God as one who looks for mans flaws and sins, in order to shot them into hell. D! immesdales belief in this God causes him to be horror-struck to confess, especially to God. He fears God will not forgive him, and so he does not allow God the chance to forgive or revenge him, which leads him to seek other forms of penalization. Dimmesdale begins to quicken to the Old Catholic government agency of penance to ease his guilty conscience. In Mr. Dimmesdales mystifying closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders (Hawthorne 141). By not allowing God to either punish or forgive him, Dimmesdale takes it upon himself to punish. He hurt himself through beatings and begins desist and taking vigils for long periods of time. This leads to the impairment of his physical and mental health. zip is responsible for Dimmesdales state of health except his own actions. He never has the courage to receive or ask for Gods forgiveness, so his punishment and suffering continue. Di mmesdales cowardice leads him to fear God rather than trust him. Even in his death cyclorama he talks of his fear of God. I fear! I fear! It may be, that, when we forgot our Godit was thenceforth vain to hope that we could converge here after.(Hawthorne 239). His final spoken communication in life illustrate him as someone who fears that God is unforgiving and fears that he [Dimmesdale] is punished to a life, hereafter, of unhappiness. In his dying moment Dimmesdale still cannot ask for forgiveness. Fogle stated, Even in the guardedly staged scene of Dimmesdales death, where every impulse of twain the author and lector demands complete forgiveness, Hawthorne refuses to grant it (135). This is so, because Dimmesdale never asks for forgiveness and so he cannot be granted it. Having the courage to forgive takes just as much strength as to ask for forgiveness. Dimmesdale can be seen lacking in both cases.         through and through the course of Hawthorne s book, The Scarlet Letter, he shows Dimmesdale go th! rough a course of tremendous suffering and unlivable agony, which last leads to his death. Many can argue, especially those who follow the orthodox interpretation that he suffers because he broke heavenly law and commits sin. However, it is not caused by his sin but rather is caused and prolonged by his cowardice and resulting inability to receive forgiveness. He begins to suffer the moment he does not confess, as Hester has. After his first act of cowardice, his lack of courage and inability to confess to society, continues and even worsens his suffering. to a high place everything else, however, it is his failure to give, ask, and receive forgiveness that ultimately causes him to suffer. In every single moment, in which Dimmesdale is given the opportunity to confess and does not, leads him to be given the name, a coward.          Work Cited Baym, Nina. Who? The Characters. The Scarlet Letter: A Reading. Boston: Twayne Pu blishers,         1986. 68, 72. Fogle, Richard Harter. The Scarlet Letter. Hawthornes Fiction: The Light and the Dark.         Norman: university of okay Press, 1964. 135 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Four classic American Novels. new York: Signet,         1969. Quoteland.com- courage. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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