Please provide a deeper meaning or significance of the quote, “…there was an air about this young minister, - an apprehensive, a startled, a half-frightened look, - as of a being who felt himself quite astray and at a loss in the pathway of human existence, and could only be at ease in some seclusion of his own” (104). Chapter 3
Im sorry to distrub, thank your for your time.
Dimmesdale was a dedicated minister, but he was also carrying a secret..... a secret that would ruin his ministry and shame him if it were revealed. Dimmesdale had been led astray by his own passion, he'd had both an affair and a child with a married woman. As he watched Hester's shame, he was frightened their relationship would be revealed. Her shame and punishment dishonered him because his own was unknown. Thus, he punished himself. Because of his adultery and his knowledge that Hester had accepted her punishment without naming him, Dimmesdale knew himself to be a hypocrite and carried the guilt. This caused him to isolate himself and fear discovery.
The Scarlet Letter
