In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, the novelist suggests how Dimmesdale, a priest obligated to the Church, committed adultery, but kept it a secret to preserve the political and societal structure of the Puritan community. Throughout the first half of the novel, Dimmesdale is portrayed as a small, insignificant character who seems to have a strange fondness for Hester Prynne in which the reader does not understand why, until he and Hester meet in the forest. Dimmesdale struggles throughout the novel with his private and public life. Hawthorne defines that the characters in the novel are made of how they handle their own adverse situations. The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a small character who gives compelling sermons and is a vital part of the Puritan community, struggles to fulfill his duty to the Church. . The reader knows that Dimmesdale is the only one holding back from telling the truth to the community, but he believes it will disrupt society. Dimmesdale is interrogated by Chillingworth, which leads him to physical and emotional trauma resulting in a heart condition which has a superficial significance to his death later in the novel. The real reason for his death is much deeper: he finally revealed his sin on the scaffold. As readers, we don't know for sure, but we can infer it from context when the author sets the mood by describing the scene "Pearl kissed her lips." A spell has been broken” (Hawthorne 234). This scene almost feels like a Disney movie where a spell is broken. In this case it is a sin that is lifted and a transformation unlike the frog prince but a transformation into death almost as if God is rewarding him in an unconventional way for revealing…. .. middle of paper ...... in which they are represented as a congregation (loyalty) and Hester (love). Balancing these two elements is a daunting task. Whether Dimmesdale reveals sin out of guilt, or a lack of devotion which is not evident in the novel, the reader knows that Dimmesdale wanted to find a balance because he had a duty to the people but also to Hester Prynne. The Scarlet Letter employs concepts that we use today, like a living but dead novel. He is alive to the extent that we explore his features, but dead to the extent that the author and the Puritan community have disappeared. There are communities like that today, for example the dog fighting ring in which Michael Vick said, "That was bad" (60 Minutes). He said he loved dog fighting because that's how he grew up because everyone in his neighborhood had the same feelings. to the way the Puritans viewed sin and passion to the extent that they did not know any better.