In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale as a gentle, quiet character who is destroyed by his sin and becomes much weaker and braver. The town minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, is new. in Salem and many residents already love it. He doesn't talk much but he gives detailed, engaging sermons that people love and can easily relate to. He discovers the novel when the town beadle brings Hester out to receive her punishment on the scaffold. The Reverend asks Hester to reveal the name of her child's father. As the book continues, he seems to be suffering from some sort of illness or physical pain that is bothering him. Dimmesdale is a quiet man and not very social, mainly because he spends a lot of time on his work and personal time with God. Because he doesn't talk much and mostly keeps to himself, he ends up hurting himself mentally and physically. This leads to guilt building up within him and he deals with this guilt by punishing himself. This causes illness and heart disease which could eventually lead to his death. Arthur Dimmesdale is a gentle character who is new to town and prefers to keep to himself. During Hester's punishment on the scaffold, the Reverend is presented as a "trembling [man], expressing both nervous sensitivity and vast power of restraint" (Hawthorne 62). Hawthorne describes him as a kind, good-natured man whom the community admires as a religious leader. Dimmesdale is quite reserved and doesn't talk much to others but he maintains good relations with the townspeople. During the first scaffolding scene, Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale as having an "apprehensive, surprised, half-frightened confession... in the middle of a paper... saying, 'It was on him!' he continued… “The eye of God has seen it! The angels were always pointing at him! The Devil knew this well, and he continually tormented him with the touch of his burning finger! (Hawthorne 228). Dimmesdale explains that there is a mark on his chest that only God and the Devil knew about until now. He is about to repent to the congregation so that everyone knows his sin instead of just him and Hester. He confesses his sin by tearing his “ministerial bandage before his breast.” It has been revealed! (Hawthorne 228). An A, similar to Hester's, is on the minister's chest and represents his sin. At first the congregation couldn't believe it, but eventually they realized what he had done. Being weak and ill, shortly after his confession, Dimmesdale died on the scaffold. His sin has reached him and finally kills him.