urhad tried to keep intact. It is visible to him as he pulls aside Arthurs ministerial robe: a scarlet letter A upon his chest.Although Hawthorne lets this aspect of the novel remain ambiguous, this engraving on Arthurs chest suggests that the burdenof his sin had seeped so deeply within him, it has now forced its way outside; it is at all his levels. At this pointin the novel, Arthurs sin had begun, if it had not already succeeded, in consuming him. Arthurs conscience was now stainedwith sin, and its weight will soon become too much to bear. As the story continues within the next few years, Arthur beginshis progressive moral devolution and self-hatred. He despises the hypocrisy of such a vile scoundrel as himselfpreaching from behind the pulpit, yet can never bring himself to admit his corruption before his congregation. From thisundesirable spiritual weight he seeks freedom. He had striven to find forgiveness in admitting his guilt at the pulpit, buthe ended up only feeling more shamed when the masses viewed his confessions as only more proof of his saintliness. His innerturmoil led him to find other methods of penance: the scourge, fasting, and vigils. Arthur would whip his shoulderssenselessly, fast rigorously to the point of where his knees trembled, and sit in either the darkness, the light of a singlelamp, or in a mirror on the occasion of a night. On one such night, Arthur found temporary solace. The guilt of seven yearscaused him to steal swiftly to the scaffold, the same scaffold Hester Prynne was publicly shamed years ago thesame scaffold he should have been on. Climbing atop this structure and later being joined by Pearl and Hester, anelectrical charge pulsed through his body and he was reawakened. However, he still refused to admit his crime in front ofthe town, and when he returned to the trappings of society, he was greeted again by his familiar hypocrisy. These actsof penance failed in purifying him, and only caused him...
