Read the following passage from Chapter 10 of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel *The Scarlet Letter* (1850).
(1) "Where," asked Mr. Dimmesdale, "did you gather those herbs, with the dark, flabby leaf?"
(2) "Even in the graveyard here at hand," answered the physician, "they are new to me. I found them
(3) growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly
(4) weeds, that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart,
(5) and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better
(6) to confess during his lifetime."
(7) "Perchance," said Mr. Dimmesdale, "he earnestly desired it, but could not."
(8) "And wherefore?" rejoined the physician. "Wherefore not; since all the powers of nature call so
(9) earnestly for the confession of sin, that these black weeds have sprung up out of a buried heart,
(10) to report an unspoken crime?"
(11) "That," answered the clergyman, "is a fantasy of yours. There can be, if I forebode aright, no
(12) power, short of the Divine mercy, to disclose, whether by silent words or the familiar voice of our
(13) fellow-men, secrets such as these. I conceive, moreover, that the hearts holding such secrets
(14) are in themselves the only receptacles of them, and that they must be kept until the day when all
(15) secrets shall be revealed. Nevertheless, I cannot but think that some men, of a peculiar
(16) temperament, do so hold their secrets, and yet are not altogether without a sort of plea for
(17) doing so. They shrink from the eye of man, because, by revealing themselves, they would no
(18) longer have the power of doing good, or of ministering to the spiritual welfare of their fellow-creatures.
(19) They would be looked upon as defiled and impure; and their capacity for good would be destroyed."
(20) "They fear the shame," said Roger Chillingworth, with a smile.
(21) "It may be so," said Mr. Dimmesdale, with a sigh. "But, of a truth, they are not always selfish.
(22) They would fain serve God, and do good to their fellow-men, by retaining the very status that
(23) enables them to do so. But, Roger Chillingworth, let us talk of other things. This subject of ours
(24) is, in truth, a very dark and painful one."
(25) The physician, during this discussion, had kept his eyes fixed upon the clergyman’s face. He
(26) saw the quick, nervous twitching of the muscles, and the sudden flush that rose and fell, like an
(27) indicator of some hidden trouble that was working in the breast of his patient. He knew that he had
(28) struck a chord that vibrated with intense agony in the clergyman's heart. Yet he did not press the
(29) matter further at that moment, choosing instead to let the venom of his insinuation work its way
(30) into the young minister's soul, while he himself assumed an air of professional detachment.
(31) "Let us, then, speak of other matters," said the physician, turning back to his basket of weeds.
In the passage, Mr. Dimmesdale’s defense of those who conceal their sins (lines 15–19) highlights his internal conflict by suggesting that he is torn between which of the following?
- Athe author's moral critique of Puritan society and Dimmesdale's sincere alignment with orthodox Calvinist theology
- a desire to preserve his capacity for spiritual service and the psychological burden of his hidden guiltCevap
- Ca simplistic struggle between his desire to do good and Chillingworth's active malice
- Dhis genuine theological conviction regarding divine judgment and Chillingworth’s scientific skepticism
- Ehis professional resentment of the physician's advice and his physical dependence on Chillingworth's medical treatments