I am Dimmesdale. I graduated from Oxford making me very intelligent. Look at what a great school it is: http://www.ox.ac.uk/. In England I am greatly respected for my intelligence and my eloquence and persuasiveness in my sermons and that respect had transferred with me to America. Here I am one of the reverends of the town, a hypocritical reverend but that’s my secret. One day I came across the most beautiful Puritan woman i had ever laid eyes on with her “figure of perfect elegance” (Hawthrone 37). I’m a reverend, yes I know, but temptations really got the best of me after Hester and I fell in love. Here’s the saddest part: we committed the terrible sin of fortification, leaving Hester pregnant. Nobody would ever suspect me to be the father and everyone knows Hester is unmarried. For her, well our sin, she was forced to stand on a scaffold for 3 hours, even with her baby Pearl, and she must wear the letter A on her breast for the rest of her life. I was even apart of her public shaming. Knowing what I’ve done and the fact that my sins have gone unnoticed and unpunished eats away at me everyday. My guilty conscious has been stronger than ever and has started to take a heavy toll on my well-being. However, I simply cannot find it in me to confess my terrible sin. I’m a minister! If I let everyone in on my secret, all my respect will be thrown down the drain. At the same time, keeping the secret is killing me more than its helping me. I’ve become very weak, pale, and ill because I feel so terrible. Hester endured all the punishment alone while it should have been the both of us. Everyday this terrible thought taunts me. I’m torn on what i should do. If the townspeople find out that Pearl is my baby, they might kill me. Such a minister like me should not sin so terribly. Even though my health is declining, I cannot fathom letting everyone know the great sin I’ve committed..