Chillingworth a lot of distress, and as he mentally becomes vengeful, his physical deformity worsens, and he also appears to be more evil and sinful. Much like a leech he used to hurt Dimmesdale, Chillingworth attaches himself to Dimmesdale’s soul, and is consumed with punishing, torturing, and sucking all the life out of him, like a leech does to its host. Chillingworth is so attached that once Dimmesdale dies, he himself dies within a year, as if he now has nothing to live for.Perhaps the greatest example of ‘mind over body’ is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Feeling guilty about the sin he committed, Dimmesdale repeatedly tortures himself both physically and mentally. Dimmesdale believes that torturing himself in the privacy of his home will make up for a public confession. He thinks that because of the sin he committed, and himself being a Puritan minister, he does not deserve anything but pain. The Puritan age is a time when people in society are expected to be literally perfect and free from sin, but under all the strict rules and regulations, one will eventually break down from all the stress and pressure. This is what happens to Dimmesdale. His mind is filled with chaos, as he sincerely wants to confess, but is unable to do so. As time goes by, Dimmesdale becomes more ill and weak. Finally, Dimmesdale confesses moments before he dies, and when he does, a scarlet letter A is seen on Dimmesdale’s chest. Although it is not certain how this mark appeared or how long it has been there, a possible explanation might be that through all the self-inflicted punishment, self-torture and guilt, Dimmesdale’s mind and conscience afflicted a scarlet A on his chest.In varying ways, these three characters of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter are forced to deal with the sin of adultery. Their actions are dramatically based on what their minds believe. Hester has the most strength; she is abl...
