The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is a main character in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and is a Puritan. Puritan Society was a theocracy and therefore the bible was a strict guide to Puritan life and is interpreted very literally. In this novel, Dimmesdale has sinned. This is ironic as he is a pure, God-loving Reverend. He sinned against Hester and the townspeople; he sinned against God and sinned against himself. His sin against himself …showed first 75 words of 1726 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1726 total…but at least he would have been alive. Also, if he had been true to himself and others, Hester and Pearl would not have had to go through as much grief as they did. Their lives would have been much better. As Hawthorne said in the last chapter of the book, "Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!"