Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once said: “Guilt is perhaps death's most painful companion. » This quote truly captures Dimmesdale's death and his journey towards death, it is the guilt that leads him to the grave and accompanies him through the five stages of grief. Dimmesdale is one of several characters in The Scarlet Letter facing personal and spiritual problems. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a romantic novel about a young woman, Hester Prynne, who is permanently marked for her sin by a scarlet A that she must reveal on her chest and also by her daughter Pearl. Hester committed adultery with the young Boston minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester and her beloved child Pearl learn to overcome the A and change its meaning from adulterous to capable, as they change the way society perceives them, Dimmesdale wastes away under the "care" of Rodger Chillingworth, the Hester's past. husband. Chillingworth knows of the sin and seeks revenge on Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is helpless and in a downward spiral. He allowed sin to become what it is, even though the townspeople did not know of his adultery until his last breath. The Scarlet Letter is a story about overcoming the darkness that hangs over you and coming out of the sin or darkness that controls you. For characters like Hester, this is a pretty easy thing to deal with, but on the other hand, characters like Dimmesdale struggle and can't seem to escape their heinous actions and don't find peace of mind until their death. The Scarlet Letter primarily focuses on the process of overcoming these difficult times and how each character deals differently with the pressure, stress, and guilt that comes with it. Arthur Dimmesdale is a lost soul after his sin, he engages ... middle of paper ...... in acts to try to please God or anyone who wishes to obtain forgiveness. Most people naturally associate depression with death; people at this stage will experience sadness, regret, and fear of what is to come. The last stage is acceptance, this stage is very simple, it is at this stage that the individual realizes his destiny and agrees with him and what he has done. (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross -Five stages of grief, Business Balls). Dimmesdale is, to say the least, a very, very troubled man. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale goes through the five stages of grief, he lets his sin rule and control his life and ultimately lets it lead to his demise. “Denial is a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, reality, etc. ., relating to the situation concerned” (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross -Five Stages of Grief, Business Balls). Denial