The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale is weak,
but in his last moments manages a kind of coward’s courage. He yearns to confess,
tries to confess; and yet remains unable to do so because “…Cowardice which
invariably drew him back….” (168) Haunted by his sin, Dimmesdale seeks to
repent without the consequences of Hester Prynne’s public confession and
exposure. “… driven hither by the impulse of that Remorse which dogged him
everywhere…” Dimmesdale climbs the scaffold where his lover, Hester Prynne was
mocked by the entire town for their sinful action (168). This action however
does not serve as his penance; but rather reveals the cowardice in his heart.
The climb is made in the dead of the night, when the darkness is so thick “No
eye could see him, save that ever wakeful one which had seen him in his closet,
wielding the bloody scourge.” (168) Dimmesdale then shrieks aloud upon the
scaffold, but this was not a cry to draw the townspeople and reveal his painful
secret. The shriek was “Without any effort of his will…,” and therefore was not
a courageous act (169). The entire event was failed attempt to sooth the guilty
in Dimmesdale’s heart. Even during his last moments, when he finally confesses
his sin to the people, “Cowardice” does not fully release her grip on
Dimmesdale. Rather, she finally allows the minister to confess when he is
moments from death. Only then he cries out “…let me…take my shame upon me!”
(284) This coward’s courage is the kind of power that Dimmesdale’s possess, for
he shall never be able to live in true penitence for his sin as Prynne lived.
Even after his confession and death, many of the townspeople who so harshly
punished Prynne, refused to acknowledge the truth of Dimmesdale’s confession.
The minister was never able to perform the penitence he desired, in life or
death.
