Why is the following quote, delivered by Dimmesdale, important: "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."
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This quote is basically saying “When you live a lie for so long, the line between lie and truth become blurred and you become confused.” The public sees Dimmesdale as holy and good, whereas if they knew the truth, that Dimmesdale was the father of illegitimate Peal, they would see him as a sinner and evil. Dimmesdale had continued to portray holy and good but the evil inside was eating him alive. We see in chapter 20 that the lines begin to blur between good and evil as Dimmesdale begins to act wicked towards members of his congregation. “…leaving the young sister to digest in his (Dimmesdale’s) rudeness as she might.”(pg. 264) Also in the chapter Dimmesdale is lost and confused, hence the chapter title “A Minister in a Maze”.
ReplyDeleteThe quote is important because after one person tells a lie for so long it is like having two different personalities. Eventually the person starts to get confused as to which personality is their true personality; if it is the one they are telling the public or the one they are telling themselves. Mr. Dimmesdale has lived a lie as a minister where he is presented as a pure and holy man to the public, but to himself he is the complete opposite because of the sin he and Hester committed. After having the conversation with Hester in the woods and the truth being revealed, he was more bewildered than ever and became the man that he saw himself to be as his true personality. This caused him to start treating others the way he treated himself with the guilt from his sin. "It was the same town as heretofore; but the same minister returned not from the forest. He might have said to the friends who greeted him, -'I am not the man for whom you take me!I left him yonder in the forest...Go seek your minister" (pg. 260-261)
ReplyDeleteDimmsdale was living a lie, he was one person to the public and another person to himself, eventually you tend to get confused on who you really are. He was seen by the public as a man of God who was basically perfect and never sinned, but that's not who he truly was. Before he was in the forest he was a weak person, who lived a lie. But after he left, he started acting himself, well what he viewed as his actual self, and had decided he'd rather run away then face the public. He was full of energy, at this point basically a new guy. As Shania said, he began treating others the way he treated himself due to his sin. He tells the people that he is not the same man he was before, he left that guy in the forest and, as Bailey said, implies the title: “a minister in a maze”
ReplyDeleteIn order for me to best understand this quote, I related it to a quote from one of my favorite movies, V for Vendetta, “You wear a mask for so long… you forget who you are beneath it.” Wearing this lie is what was making the reverend so sick. As Roger Chillingworth said, the Reverend’s sickness was not a sickness of the body, but a sickness of the soul because of this lie that he has masqueraded under for the past seven years. He proceeds to leave this mask behind, slowly pulling it off in chapter eighteen, ‘A Flood of Sunshine’, as all of his and Hester’s shadows are finally brought to life. This transformation is concluded by chapter twenty, ‘The Minister in a Maze’.
ReplyDeleteThe quote is saying after one lives a lie for so long they begin to believe the lie and become confused as to who they really are and what is true. The quote is important because it accurately describes Dimmsdale himself. He has lived a lie for so long and presents himself as a minister and is seen by the public as a pure soul and holy. But, he sees himself as the complete opposite because of the sin that he committed with Hester. After he meets with Hester in the woods and learns the true identity of Chillingworth and the two plan to escape together with Pearl, the guilt that has been gnawing away at Dimmsdale seems to fade and he gets his energy and liveliness back. As mentioned by Shania, the minister leaves the forest and is basically like a new man. He states "I am not the man for whom you take me! I left him yonder in the forest...Go seek your minister..."(pg.260-261).
ReplyDeleteMr. Dimmesdale could no longer remember which was the real him. He put on a holy mask in front of the towns people, but in secret was also a sinner and filled with evil. Hester sees the two sides of Mr. Dimmesdale unlike the towns people. Mistress Hibbins asks Hester on page 186, "But this minister! Couldst thou surely tell, Hester, whether he was the same man that encountered thee on the forest path?" Mr. Dimmesdale has two different lives, but which was the true him, no one knew.
ReplyDeleteMr. Dimmesdale shows a fake mask for the people but his other part he kept to himself. He tried to be both but he got himself confused on who he really was: The holy pastor or horrible sinner. "I am not the man for whom you take me for." (p. 167) He knows he is not a holy man but pretended to be. He eventually had to cast aside his mask. He sought to find his true self.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is important because it essentially summarizes the minister's life. He i constantly putting on a front of purity and holiness in front of the public, but in reality he is a man who has committed a terrible sin and he struggles with this every moment. This quote is parallel with the reverend's life because he has devoted his whole life to God and a holy existence, but has done one very wrong act, and finds himself "bewildered" as to whether he is the man of God he has been his whole life, or if he is an evil man on a path straight to hell.
ReplyDeleteI think Bailey is right that the chapter title hints to what the quote means. The chapter is of a minister who is in a predicament of who he truly is.
ReplyDeleteMr. Dimmesdale faces the dilemma that many public figures cope with. What is expected of him by the people of Boston is not what he feels suits him best. However, he feels that he needs to fulfill those expectations if he chooses to remain in Boston. Therefore, when he finds himself in privacy, he is more expressive of the miserable life that he feels he is living. But when he enters a public setting, he must hide that misery and do his best to live up to the expectations that the townspeople have. The given quote tells readers that Dimmesdale is becoming confused as to which life he is living at certain times. He has become so accustomed to hiding his inner struggle (being a minister, he is very often found in a public scene) that he feels as if he is permanently living in falsehood. Such is the reason why Mr. Dimmesdale feels that he is "getting bewildered as to which (life) may be true."
ReplyDeleteDimmesdale gives this advice because he doesn't want anyone to go through the pain he went through. His everyday life of being a minister reminded him of his sin and child from the sin. "And, all this time, perchance, when poor Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave, he questioned with himself whether the grass would ever grow on it, because an accursed thing must there be buried." Everyone was surely convinced Mr. Dimmesdale would make it do heaven, left him in awful guilt. The guilt was eating him alive, he had to tell his secret, to feel better about himself.
ReplyDeleteThe quote is important because it gives an overview of Dimmesdale's life. Dimmesdale lived his life a lie. He knew in his heart that he was the one who committed adultery with Hester and he chose to keep it a secret to protect himself. He made the public eye see that he was innocent and continued preaching things that he could not follow himself. Living with this sin and knowing he should be punished tore Dimmesdale apart. Instead of facing the consequences like Hester did, he tried to live with the guilt. Finally, when he realizes what he is doing is wrong, Dimmesdale confesses to the public what he had done 7 years ago, then dies shortly after.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan Strong. Dimmesdale isn't sure what to do in his situation, so he tries to live a two faced life. He eventually confuses himself and doesn't even know who he is anymore. Eventually, he realizes that the truth needed to be revealed.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Caity Richardson. Dimmesdale knows the terrible pain he went through trying to do what he did and doesn't wish it upon anyone else. He knew he had sinned and didn't know what to do about it. Instead of being truthful like he preaches, he tries to live a lie, eventually confessing the truth.
ReplyDeleteBy saying that, Dimmesdale is expressing his awareness of how he puts on a façade of righteousness with the regular townsfolk but on the inside he sees himself as a dirty sinner. He also notes how this can not always be, and that one day the town will see him for how he truly is. This is important as the reader sees that Dimmesdale realizes the inevitable. Dimmesdale knows what is to come, eventually leading him to fulfill his own "prophecy."
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, it acts as a foreshadowing for the reader.
The quote Mr.Dimmsdale is saying expresses the one thing that has been expressed the entire novel, you can not be one thing behind closed doors and another in front of everyone else. He had sinned with Hester yet he kept it a secret for so long. He knows he can not live two different lives forever. His guilt has led him to this realization along with his new plans to go to Europe with Hester and Pearl. This changing times help him to see his whole life in the full scale and see that living your life half a lie is extremely destructive.
ReplyDeleteI complete agree with Levi. The quote not only throws in a bit of foreshadowing but also points out how Dimmsdale cant keep living a lie. He is a holy figure to the townspeople but Hester knows both sides of him and she knows the sinner side of him. Its Dimmsdale acknowledging that he cant go on living such a split life and that at one point he'll slip up and be ruined.
ReplyDeleteThis quote completely identifies Mr. Dimmesdale's dilemma, as he it facing the choice of whether or not to confess his sins, or to keep them quiet in order to maintain his saintly image. He feels trapped in between and is tired of living his life shrouded in lies, but is unwilling to give up his current life to face the truth, so he-- like Genevieve said-- is voicing his acknowledgement that he will slip up eventually.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is basically saying that you can't pretend to act like somebody that you're not because sooner or later your true self with show. The minister, for several years, acts as if he is this good and holy person who has never sinned in his life. However, if everyone knew who he really was, which is the lover of Hester and the father of Pearl, he would be considered basically the opposite since adultery is one of the worst sins there is. In Chapter 20, Dimmesdale's true self starts to show. page 264, "… and leaving the young sister to digest his rudeness as she might." The minister that the townspeople knew wouldn't of turned his back on anyone, in this case the real Dimmesdale is coming out. The sin he committed with Hester changed him into a new, awful person.
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ReplyDeleteThe quote is saying that if you try to live two lives, one of your true self and the other of what you want people to see, sooner or later you will become confused about who you truly are. Once your real self leaks into your fake life others will see you have been living a lie. For example, the minister was thought of as a holy man. A man of God and a man who steers from sin. But when he takes the mask of false reality off, he is a man of great sin. He is the man that committed adultery with Hester. He is the father of Pearl. If the people knew the real him they would think of him as nothing more than scum. His true self starts to show around chapter 20-21. His rude behavior, lack of caring, and confusion, is all evidence that he has been living a life of lies
ReplyDeleteDimmesdale portrayed himself as a holy and good minister. To the townspeople, he was considered to be the purest, most innocent person in the colony. To himself, he knew what he had done. He knew he had the same Scarlet Letter as Hester. If the public new that he was Pearl's father, they would consider him a sinner and a bad person.
ReplyDeleteIt's almost like Pathological lying, a disorder in which the person who lies believes it is truth. Dimmesdale had put up a façade that not only he wanted the people of the village to believe in but he himself wanted to desperately believe in. The quote is trying to say that Dimmesdale truly believed he could be a man of God up until the point in which he sinned with Hester, he thought that if he hid the fact that he was pearls father he could continue to be the man he was intended to be but later realized he was not the holy person he thought he was and that the sin he was trying to run away from was the true him " I am not the man for whom you take me! I left him yonder in the forest..." Pg 206
ReplyDeleteThe quote "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true" is important because Mr. Dimmesdale, who said this quote, is hiding under a lie so big, he's beginning to get confused as to who he truly is. The people of the community see him as a minister who is pure and a good strong man. But he sees himself as a man who needs to own up to his sin so he can live in peace and not guilt. But Roger Chillingworth is also hiding under lies and getting confused as to who he truly is as well. Chillingworth is a doctor so people look to him when they are in need of help for a health issue. But Chillingworth knows that he is Hester's husband, but he wants to keep his identity a secret because of the sin Hester has committed. Chillingworth gets so wrapped up in himself that he forgets who he is.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is vital to Dimmesdale's character because it essentially sums up his actions through out the story. Dimmesdale goes through the book pretending he is an honest and holy man, when he himself knows that he has committed a sin that he will not admit to. In this way he has created a sort of public persona that is so ingrained in him that he confuses it for who he really is.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Sarah Mann, Dimmesdale is in a way contradicting himself. He is no worthy man with clean hands, he's the complete opposite. Like life today people will say things over and over that come across as the good things, when they know that it's the total opposite and after so long this is what soon becomes the reality and what that person has began to believe themselves.
ReplyDeleteAdding to my comment, this also shows the person that he is and they way that he looks at things, therefore confusing the lie he is telling with the truth, making the lie the new "truth."
ReplyDeleteDimsdale constantly thought of who he was in his past versus who he has become. This is a result of keeping his lie despite his feelings for Hester. The constant thought of his actions has made him question was is a lie and what is the truth where it has all become a blur. This quote perfectly tells Dimsdale's struggles from the very beginning of the book.
ReplyDeleteDimmesdale's quote, "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true", is significant because it helps the reader to understand just how confused and hurt he is. In a nutshell, his quote is reffering to the fact that he has decieved the public for so long that he is even starting to belive his own lies. He has lived in regret and denial for so long that his mind is refusing to accept what he has done to the full extent. While this does not mean that he refuses to admit that he did in fact sin, but is more a reference to the internal battle that he must endure every day because of it.
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