Dimmesdale’s Humble Mortality--Life is hard, but accepting that fact makes it easier. In this twisted story of deception and adultery set in the Puritan era, Hawthorne introduces Dimmesdale as a weak and cowardly man who refuses to take responsibility for his actions. By the end of the novel he has been transformed into a person who accepts his sins and the consequences, before it is too late; ultimately proving that love surpasses all boundaries, and that one can only be human. At the beginning of the novel, Dimmesdale has established quite a reputation for himself. In discussing individual members of the magistrate, the towns people