All people are prone to some degree of sin. It is an inevitable fact that can not be changed. But there are ways that mankind can achieve redemption from these sinister actions to make a sin worse. A person enhances a sin when they do not take responsibility for it. In The Scarlet Letter, Minister Dimmesdale becomes a greater sinner than the two other main characters, Hester and Chillingsworth, because he does not confess and take the blame for the sin that he committed. .
In The Scarlet Letter, Minister Dimmesdale has an affair with Hester Prynne, which results in the birth of the baby, Pearl, and leads to the deterioration of Hester's husband, Chillingsworth. For seven years the minister hides his secret while Hester lives with public shame. Dimmesdale lacks the courage to admit his guilt publicly, which eats at his conscience and soul. His sin is deepened within him, plaguing every corner of his mind. He becomes tortured by his secret. Dimmesdale physically abuses himself, fasting for long periods of time until his health begins to seriously fail. .
Dimmesdale is fully aware of the means by which he must liberate his soul from confines of his grave sin, and make his covenant with God. Yet, throughout the story his confession remains an impediment, constraining him from then onward to a life of atonement. Dimmesdale's story is one of a lonely man who has given into temptation and lascivious desire. Hester's marriage and his unwillingness to tarnish his reputation as the faithful and innocent priest further complicate the matter. He does not know whether to confess or carry on a life of self-punishment. The sin begins to gnaw away at his sanity. As forms of penance he engages in late night vigils, starvation, and very severe self-mutilations.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale has many opportunities to acknowledge his wrongdoing. He could have confessed during the first scaffold scene as Hester stood in front of the townspeople.
