Essay

The Act of Confessing
To sin is to be human. People across the world share one abstract concept in common: we all sin. Everyone falls to their knees in the face of some temptations that seem to be bigger than life itself. As sin manipulates and warps us, making us vile and ugly creatures, the real differences between people begin to show. Some are noble; they acknowledge their sins and learn from them, as Hester and Proctor did. Some hide from their sins, holding the regret, fear, and loathing inside, like Dimmesdale. Some never call their deeds by the ugly name of sin and run away for fear of punishment, like Abigail. Some see their sins, acknowledge their dirty lifestyle, push the thoughts away, and give in, like Dorian Gray. Still others take different courses of action. These very different people all committed crimes against God, and they all dealt with the deeds in different ways. Some dealt with them eternally, some externally. Some very rarely, if even at all, noticed their sins. This leaves the question to be asked: Which is the correct way to bear a sin? To keep a sin inside is the best way to bear a sin, because those who tell their sins only fall farther into the darkness.
Pearl was Hester’s punishment, and that was all that Hester needed. Pearl showed her every day what she had done wrong: “’She is my happiness!- she is my torture, none the less’” (Hawthorne 103). Even if Hester had somehow not been found out throughout pregnancy and throughout Pearl’s life, Pearl would have continued to be her eternal punishment, and she would have been redeemed through raising the child to the best of her ability. Without the public knowing her sin, she still would have undergone the
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punishment she felt she deserved. Pearl would have sufficed as punishment without adding public shame. The scarlet letter never really meant anything to Hester; it was just another sign of what she had done. Had the scarlet letter never existed and she had only had Pearl, she would have felt the guilt just as strongly. Hester never had to tell her secret because her punishment lived in her house with her, being a constant reminder of her weakness.
Dimmesdale held his sin inside of him for seven years. It tortured him, driving him to masochism: "In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge" (131-132). However, his soul was already cleared from all sin. His mind just could not keep up or feel the relief that his soul had been granted. To be so guilty as to repent by whipping oneself goes above and beyond the level of repentance God requires of us. Dimmesdale just does not feel that he has been forgiven. He feels apart of a vicious cycle: he tells the people he is vile, the people believe he is modest and love him, and he hates himself more.
When Dimmesdale finally comes forward, he dies. The readers never have a chance to observe what his life would be like after confessing. However, because of the reaction of the crowd, it is evident it would have been the same. The people never realize that Dimmesdale was a sinner, even after the confession he gives: “’But there stood one in the midst of you, at whose brand of sin and infamy ye have not shuddered!’” (227). The people continue to call him holy, and if he had lived, the people would have still called him holy. This would have been not consolation for Dimmesdale. It would have made him feel worse, because he would have confessed, and still have been revered as an
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angel on earth. The people would have continued to believe that he made his confession, “in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of Infinite Purity, we are all sinners alike” (231). Had Dimmesdale not died, he would have continued on his long life of torture.
Proctor went through inner turmoil until he came to the conclusion to confess. The situations that led to his confession were out of his control, and he felt a moral need to come forward. He believed that he was saving hundreds of girls from being persecuted on the charges he knew were false. He knew that there were no witches on the loose, and he knew the reason behind the incredible accusations. He reluctantly confessed his lechery to the court: “I have known her, sir. I have known her” (Miller 110). Proctor believed this would end the witch trials.
Proctor may have saved innocent people, but he was not redeemed for his confession. His wife says of Proctor, “he have his goodness now” (145). However, Proctor was not forgiven because he had come out publicly. He was forgiven when he was sorry. When he said to Abby, “’but I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again’” (23), God saw that he was truly sorry for his lechery. He was forgiven here because that was the point that he overcame his cowardice. To tell a person outright that one is going to stay away from them is a very hard thing to do. It leaves one vulnerable to criticism and hate. Proctor put everything on the line and said that he wanted to not be a part of Abigail’s life anymore. Like Dimmesdale, Proctor’s guilt redeemed him.
Abigail was never redeemed. Everyone in Salem knew what she had done with Proctor because everyone knew of Proctor’s sin. This meant that she was living her sin
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publicly. It had come out against her will as Hester’s sin had. But Hester was forgiven, and Abigail was not. This has to do with being sorry. Hester was given the choice of returning to her guilt or living with her daughter in Europe. Abigail was forced to live as a whore in Boston, because she was no longer welcome in Salem. One must be sorry to receive forgiveness from God. She never sought forgiveness. She never even believed she did anything wrong. One must offer their hearts to God to be freed from sins. She did not do that, and so she could not be forgiven.
Dorian Gray died trying to save himself from himself. He knew what kind of a person he was, because he questioned himself: “Was it really true that one could never change?” (Wilde 225). He had loved Hetty, but, ”he had told her once that he was wicked” (225). He knew that he was terrible. How could one not know with a painting of themselves becoming more and more horrific every day? To Dorian, life was very conflicted. He knew he was a monster, and he wanted to become good, if only to save his beautiful picture from the evil man it had become. His life was the same as someone who eats sweets and hopes to remain thin. He did terrible things, and the accusing portrait stared back at him. Dorian was never redeemed for his sins.
Dorian confessed his sins twice. The first person he told was Basil Hallward, the man who had a deep love for him, both romantically and in friendship. He reveals to Basil the portrait Basil had painted so many years ago. Basil saw it all; he saw the evil thing that his masterpiece had become. Shortly afterwards, Dorian murders him in cold blood, lashing out like a murderous child. The second time he confessed was to AlanCampbell. Dorian confessed to murder of Basil to Alan and blackmailed him
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with a mysterious note, forcing Alan to get rid of the body: “’In doing what I am going to do, what you force me to do, it is not of your life that I am thinking’” (176). Eventually, Alan killed himself.
Dorian confessing his sins only led to death. That is the opposite of redemption; it drew him further into hell. He had sold his soul for the portrait to bear the brunt of time:
“’If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!... I would give my soul for that!’” (28). He lost his soul with that mad, passionate request. There would be no way to redeem his soul because he no longer had one. Each time he tells a person, they end up dead. His truths were poison. Any connections to him were like devastating natural disasters. To come forward and speak of his evil would predict the end for all those who heard it.
Lord Henry was never redeemed for his sin, because, like Abigail, he never acknowledges it. He did not blame himself for what he had done to Dorian, but his influence is widely understood. Everyone is aware that Dorian changed as he became more acquainted with Henry. When Dorian tells Henry that the book Henry had lent him had poisoned him, Henry replied, “’there is no such thing as that’” (224). Henry knew quite well that there was such a thing as the book poisoning Dorian, but he spoke of it in a literal sense. He took Dorian’s words and refuted them, saying that the book could not literally poison him, like a snake could through his bite. Henry knew, however, that the book would influence Dorian, and if Dorian had used the word influence instead of poison, Henry may have been forced to agree with him.
Henry knew what he was doing to Dorian, who was as easy to mold as clay. Basil
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had even forewarned him: “’Don’t try to influence him. Your influence would be bad’”
(16). Henry used the boy as his experiment despite the warnings. In Henry’s interactions
with Dorian it is clear that Henry knows of his influence on the boy: “Yes, Dorian, you
will always be fond of me’” (84). Henry says that he has no effect on Dorian, but he knows that he does. By the end of the book, Dorian is killed because of the overwhelming influence that Henry has laid on him. Henry’s love of Dorian is evident, especially when Dorian faints: “And with fear in his eyes Lord Henry rushed through the flapping palms to find Dorian Gray” (203). Henry’s earthly punishment was the death of someone he loved. Henry’s soul was doomed to be tortured because he never acknowledged his involvement in Dorian’s life. He would have had no way to confess it, or no one to confess it to. Everyone who liked Dorian was either dead or had turned from him.
Basil was forgiven for feeding Dorian’s ego. As Henry first began to change Dorian, Basil’s heart cried out in agony: “As the door closed behind them, the painter flung himself down on a sofa, and a look of pain came into his face” (33). He should have worked harder to keep the two from meeting, because he was well aware what Henry would do to him. When Henry prodded him to be introduced to Dorian, Basil says honestly “’I don’t want you to meet him’” (15). Basil, however, let the two talk and allowed Henry to change Dorian into a whole different person. Basil never tried to get in between the two, and sat back sadly: “He drove off by himself, as had been arranged, and watched the flashing lights of the little brougham in front of him. A strange sense of loss came over him… When the cab drew up to the theater it seemed to him that he had grown
years older” (84). However, when he saw what he had done to Dorian, he changed.
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When Basil was allowed to view his portrait, he tried to save Dorian. He had originally visited Dorian because wanted to be sure Dorian was not the type of person he had been told of through rumors, and he was crushed when he realized Dorian was an even worse a person: “’You must be worse, even, then those who talk against you fancy you to be!’” (161). He tried to change Dorian and save his soul: “’It is never too late, Dorian. Let us kneel down and try if we can not remember a prayer’” (162). He just wanted to save his friend, and a person he loved. However, Dorian could not stand that, and killed him. Basil was saved because he died as a martyr, trying to save the soul of the person most precious to him. Like the bible says, “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Basil had made a mistake, and realized that mistake: “I worshipped you too much. I am punished for it” (Wilde 162). He realized it and tried to save Dorian from what he had become. He did not disconnect himself from the situation like Henry did. Instead he did his best to take control and save Dorian.
Keeping one’s secrets to oneself is the best idea. Opening up the soul to another is the worst way to deal with it. The only way to make up for what one has done is by making amends and being sorry, not allowing the entire town to know how vile one is. That only makes things worse. It is impossible to live a full life if everyone around one knows the worst thing one has done. Keeping one’s sins to oneself allows one to grow from one’s mistakes instead of forcing one to feel inhibited by them.