Arthur Dimmesdales soul was jeopardized by Roger Chillingworths intentions, which were to ruin him, but his only messiah, is Pearl. Dimmesdale must embrace Pearl as his daughter and publicly confess to be free from his self-inflicted torture. Arthur Dimmesdales soul was placed in jeopardy since we first saw him. He foreshadowed to Hester Prynne about what the effect of her silence would do to him. He said, What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him yea, compel him, as it were to add hypocrisy to sin?.
pg. 62. His sin, as plainly put, was that he had committed adultery with Hester Prynne, and throughout the novel his struggle for the truth and his honorability becomes greater and greater. The man responsible for Dimmesdales torment was Roger Chillingworth.
Chillingworth prays vengeance on Hesters partner in crime (Dimmesdale) not Hester herself. When he visited Hester in prison he said, He bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou dost; but I shall read it on his heart pg. 70, this quote foreshadows the symbol that Chillingworth sees on Dimmesdales chest. Chillingworth claims he can be Dimmesdales savior because he can cure his illness, or really his guilt.
The truth to this is that Chillingworth acts as if he were Dimmesdales friend and through doing this he really will not save him but lead him to his demise. Dimmesdale knows he must confess publicly and acknowledge Pearl as his daughter, to be free from his internal struggle. Pearl asks the minister if he will hold her hand and her mothers hand at noon time the next day. This is giving Dimmesdale a chance to confess and save his soul. If he acknowledges Pearl as his daughter, and confesses publicly, he will be able to embrace god because he will be free from Chillingworths desired attainment. At the end, Dimmesdale frees his soul by publicly confessing.
Chillingworth is furious when he confesses and yells, Thou Hast escaped me!Thou Hast escaped me! pg. 241. Then Dimmesdale turned to Pearl and gave her a kiss, by doing this he announced Pearl as his daughter. This time she does not brush the kiss off, but she starts to cry and she transforms from an imp to a caring little girl. In the battle for his soul, Arthur Dimmesdale went down in glory by confessing to his sin.
