Could Reverend Dimmesdale be compared to the Fallen Angel? The one and only devil? Lucifer was once an angel of God, until he defied God and was banished from Heaven into the depths of hell. Because of Dimmesdale’s terrible act against God, could he be compared to or even be the devil? In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Dimmesdale is a figure of corruption and evil, much like Lucifer because he defies God and breaks the 7th commandment; all the while abusing his power to mask the sin he committed.
Dimmesdale defied God and broke the 7th commandment, which gave him the name, “Prince of Air”, which refers to the Fallen Angel; the devil. Dimmesdale relates significantly to Lucifer because he was a man of God, pure and holy. But by committing a heavy sin, he was punished by God in the way of guilt and Pearl. In the end of the novel, Dimmesdale is consumed by his sin after he preaches his last sermon on Election Day. Though Chillingworth is often described as the devil, he was evil from the start, but Dimmesdale was good and holy before being consumed by darkness. Because of these defiance’s, Dimmisdale is Lucifer himself.
The only way that Dimmesdale could have survived as the devil in a world of God was by masking his sin. He successfully hid his sin from the world by abusing his power as a minister. By acting on the weakness of the world and what the people thought of him, he could hide his sin for years. The people considered him the most holy and pure man on Earth and upheld him to the level of God. Little did they know, they were worshiping the god of sin and deceit; a trickster. Dimmesdale tricked the people into thinking he was holy, yet he really was the opposite. By using his power in that way and playing off the worshiping of the colonists, he commits sin after sin. Every day that Dimmesdale hides his true self, is another day that God adds to his guilt.
By abusing his power as a minister, and taking advantage of the trust the people had in him, Dimmesdale was plunged deeper into sin than ever before. But a man can only handle so much guilt, so after years of built up pain, he died.
It can be learned that God does punish for the sin committed by man and that even the most holy of people can quickly become the most evil. God will hold anybody to contempt, even his own angels. So yes, Reverend Dimmesdale can be compared to the Fallen Angel, and could even be the Fallen Angel himself. So now one must think, in a world where even the most holy have committed sins, what makes you think you’re so good?