A pillow pushing hard against my face,
To soften my sinful cries.
To cover my pain and disgrace,
And hide away my lies.
Pushing so hard now,
That I can hardly breathe.
Suffocating ever so slowly,
Like every day I lead.
Becoming weak under the pressure,
Too tired to even strive.
So I try and become what I was,
And make my days a 'life'.
It seems hope is really bleak,
Because these walls are closing in.
I'm crumbling under the weight,
Of my every little sin.
These words, penned by an internet poet who calls herself "Torn" seem to be spoken from the very mouth of Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. As we work our way through The Scarlet Letter, I cannot help but think about the intense suffering of the characters. Each of them is somehow facing "walls that are closing in." Their foundations of security are rattled by shame and loss, unrequited love and unquenchable hate. Through it all, one will become angelic, one will become monstrous, and one will suffer the greatest torment of all, the suffocation that is born of silence that hides a guilty heart.
It is easy to understand the pressure that Dimmesdale faces. He is, after all, the spiritual leader of the entire town and, as such, is expected to be blameless. He should be without sin. That is without question, but is there no redemption for sin? Is there no reconciliation to be had for a man who truly loves God?
Torn writes, "I'm crumbling under the weight of my every little sin." Like Dimmesdale, she says that her own sin is hidden, secret, suffocating. If hidden sin is so capable of breaking us, then why do we not just open ourselves to sharing the truth? Perhaps it is the nature of man to fear openness, to fear transparency, to fear consequences. After all, Adam and Eve hid from God in the Garden of Eden when they knew they had sinned. So we as humans have a long history of hiding from the truth.
Think about it: As children, we hide when we know we have done wrong. By our teens, we are experts at lying to cover our transgressions. Grown men and women create entirely separate identities so that they can live dual lives and cover their many indiscretions. Lest we believe that we humans are alone in this, remember that even dogs cower when "master" yells. We hide ourselves behind webs of deceit for fear of discovery and we slowly die inside. We are all like Dimmesdale in some way or another. His story is so moving, so memorable, so painful to read, because it is so human. We all see ourselves a little bit in him and we understand his suffering. Over the next week, you will see yourself in Dimmesdale, and part of you will hurt. I hope that his story will inspire you to explore your own soul and find your own hiding places so that you may find your way out of them into the open air that brings redemption.
E.C. #1 - "Follow" this blog (you can figure it out!!) and add a comment to this blog post. What do you think about the human desire to hide from truth? Can we find redemption for even the worst sins? Is it better to confess? What do you think about Dimmesdale's situation? Write about whatever you would like in your comment, but make it good! 25 points
E.C. #2 - Read over Torn's poem again and think about how it relates to Dimmesdale. After considering that, write your own poem in the "voice" of one of the main characters (Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl, Chillingworth) that expresses their struggles. It should be the same length as Torn's (4 stanzas of 4 lines each). Make sure to use poetic form in stanzas with meaningful line breaks. (Don't just write until you run out of space. Decide what each line should say and then break to the next line. This isn't an essay or a paragraph, after all!) Up to 40 points. In ink or typed only.
I believe that us as humans tend to hide fromt he truth unless it directly benefits us. We are often scared to face the consequences that could come from our bad actions and such. We can find redemption from our worst sins but it depends on how badly we want it, and our personal connection with God. I think that it is best for us to confess our sins or wrong-doings and live with a clean slate than to live our lives guilty. I think that Dimmesdale is in a very bad situation but he should just come clean and accept the truth, that way he can fully know and help raise his daughter. He in a sense does not have enough courage to do so. The problem is this though, the longer he holds it in, the more problems arrive. :) :( ;) :P
ReplyDeleteHumans always hide the truth, its in their nature.Unable to tell the truth,and yet unable to hold an lie.I believe that we would fine redemption.See anyone who sin and don't suffer are the true sinners, anyone who sin but do suffer it is between that person and God.It is better to confess in spite of the consequences of other people actions.It is better to let go than to hold in like using the bathroom.I think Dimmesdale situation is tough but he needs to confess to easy his pain the worst thing that can happen is death and some people say that it is easy.
ReplyDeleteLike Devin says Humans doesn't reveal any much of the truth, they run away from people who hunts the sinner and brings him/her to justice. But they refused to turn theirself in. God always is watching for whatever did displeased God. It's better to tell the whole information of whatever the incident was about and make sure it is very conclusive. In Dimmesdale problem is very advanced. He tried to confess everyone about what he did was unpleasant. But it didn't work, until Chilingworth found out the letter A was on him too just like Hester Prynn. He cackles in a twisted manner and probably for revenge he'd would kill Dimmesdale for Adultery. That's what I think that could relate to Devin's idea.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we as humans make plenty of mistakes and sometimes hide from the truth. Most people who hide from their sins only hide them because they are scared of the consequences that follow it. Us as humans will find redemption from our bad sins but it depends on if YOU want to. I think it would be better if we confess the things that we do wrong and our sins so we can live happily and not have to stress and worry about guilt or shame. I think dimmesdale is in a terrible sitiuation because he is steady hiding from and not speaking up about what he has done regardless on what may happen to him in the end he still needs to speak up because the situation is not getter better. They should not kill him because of his sin because he needs to be in his daughter life.
ReplyDeleteI think the human desire is to hide from the truth so much because we are humans and we tend to not get the truth out, instead we keep all that guilt and shame amongst ourselves. Yes, i believe we can find redemption for our worst sins we may have committed because if you believe God is the ruler of everything and you repent your sins to God and ask for forgiveness even your worst sins may be washed away. Yes it's its better to confess because you dont want to keep walking around with all this extra weight and huge burden upon your shoulders for the rest of your life and by confessing them early you may find some comfort instead of waiting for a long time and letting the secrets that you are keeping to yourself eat you alive. So again, it's best to confess. I think Dimmesdale is in between a rock and a bad place right now in his life because he is a minister that has committed a sin that the community frowns upon, but i think Dimmesdale is more worried about his reputation and what the people of the community would think of him or he thinks they will kill him. Dimmesdale situation is very complex and difficult to explain, because he wants to commit his sin sooo bad but he is too afraid about what the consquences are for his sinning ways. The best thing for Dimmesdale for his situation is to confess his sins to everyone on the scaffold and maybe he would be able to be with Hester and Pearl, if they dont kill him. :-P. =)
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