In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sin was a very evident factor throughout the novel. It heavily affected the lives of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, the three main characters. Though they were all sinners, Dimmesdale's sins stood out more boldly than that of Hester's or Chillingworth's, for his first sin with Hester lead him to commit other sins and in the end that made Dimmesdale the greatest sinner in the novel. .
Dimmesdale was wrong for committing adultery with Hester, but the fact that he was a minister made it even worst. He is a highly respected member of society and is suppose to represent the church and God. By committing adultery, Dimmesdale is showing no respect to God or to the people who so highly respect him. Dimmesdale should have known his place and role in society and to go and commit adultery with Hester was a terrible thing to do. Though it takes two to tango and Hester was also involved, society expected more from Dimmesdale than they did of Hester. She was a plain woman of society, but Dimmesdale was a whole different story. He is a member of the church, one who had dedicated his life to God There is no way for him to deny that because from the day that he became a minister, he knew his role to God and to the people. Dimmesdale advises others in their actions and thoughts and yet by allowing passion to take over his sense of decision, he is going against everything he has preached, making a bad minister as well as a bad person. If Dimmesdale was a just a regular citizen of Boston, yes, him committing adultery would still be a sin, yet because of his duty to God and his town, Dimmesdale has committed a crime that is absolutely unacceptable and unforgivable.
In addition to being a sinful minister, Dimmesdale is also a coward. He allowed Hester to suffer the consequences of the crime that he also took part in. Hester was sentenced to wear the letter A and had to stand on the scaffold while he took not a single ounce of punishment for his crime.
