Dearest Hester,
Outwardly I may seem as though I am a coward and a fool to you. What you may
not know is that my heart burns with a passion so strong, a passion so ungodly and sinful
that I may never make it to God’s kingdom. Every day I wake up and wallow in
guilt and shame for what I have done. For what we have done. Luckily, I have good
Dr. Chillingworth to look after me, although he must think I have gone mad for
praying to repent my sins. Every night I have tirelessly prayed for my sins against
God . I have prayed for keeping my crime a secret. I have prayed for forgiveness for
deceiving everyone in this good Puritan town. Everyone thinks I am a holy man of
God. They see me and think I cannot have possibly committed crime, despite my efforts
to tell the people I am a sinner. Hester, your scarlet letter may seem like a cruel
punishment, but it is better to live a life with no secrets than to live with the devil on your
shoulder. As the years have come and gone and I have watched little Pearl grow up,
I am constantly reminded of the hardships I have put you through, Hester. I am
supposed to be a man of God to whom you can confide in and let guide you down God’s
path for you. Instead, I have led you astray, and now you are suffered the consequences
of a crime which took shared effort. For this reason, I live life with remorse that tears me
to shreds from the inside out. I hold hope in my dark heart that you will be able to forgive
me in time.
Sincerely,
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale