In the times of the Puritans, ministers were seen as unfaltering men of God, but in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller's The Crucible, we are introduced to two ministers who are anything but perfect. Reverend Dimmesdale of The Scarlet Letter and Reverend Parris of The Crucible are both victimized by the constricting Puritan Ethics of their time. Although each reverend's sin is different, they both are insistent in the unvarying faith of their purpose and both characters are plagued by the torment of introspection. Although today ministers are not the focal point of our society, people in high positions of power are still expected to act and live their lives according to the communities' standards.
             Both Reverend Dimmesdale and Reverend Parris attempted to hide damaging information to save their ministry because they believed leading their people was their main purpose in life, but Dimmesdale had the love and support of his community while Parris was seen as selfish and unfit for his position. For any normal person during the time, adultery was a horrendous crime, but for a minister it would be a much deeper shame. Reverend Dimmesdale's congregation idolized him; he was seen as a bit more than human, a man very close to God. So naturally, his involvement in a scandal would have shaken the community to its core. Dimmesdale's adulterous affair with Hester Prynne was not only against the law; it was unthinkable for a man so holy as he was. Not wanting to cause great disturbance in the small community, Dimmesdale kept his identity as Hester's lover a secret from the people, thinking that since he was so admired as the minister he could not let such a shame befall him and ruin his congregation. He knew that if they ever found out,
             All people, in a word, would come stumbling over their thresholds, and turning up their amazed and horror-stricken visages around the scaffold. Whom ...