Scarlet Letter #6

"To the high mountain-peaks of faith and sanctity he would have climbed, had not the tendency been thwarted by the burden, whatever it might be, of crime or anguish, beneath which it was doomed to totter. It kept him down, on a level with the lowest" (129)

A regular preacher during this time period would not become closer to God by committing acts that are frowned upon in society. However, Dimmesdale does just that. He gains a renewed sense of religious passion because he has learned from his mistakes. The fact that he has not cracked yet is astouding based on how he has sunk to such personal lows. Instead, Dimmesdale uses his guilt to try and reconcile what he has done because he knows that, in the end, the only judgment that matters is God's judgment.