The Scarlet Letter

dimmesdale

What does the quote mean: "…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) / and how does it emphisize that Dimmesdale is the guiltiest sinner?

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Dimmesdale is never at ease. He is always furtive and nervous. Some people think it a sign of godliness but it is really a sign of guilt. He constantly hides his sin behind Hester's shame. Hester bears his guilt and Dimmesdale feels this eating at his soul. Dimmesdale sickens with his hidden guilt and self-reproach: this guilt eventually kills him.

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