hese forms so they are not easily identified or associated with evil but in reality the devilish ways and actions are an overpowering force that shouldn't go unnoticed. For example, the "black man" in Dimmesdale is his effortless attempts to confess and repent of his sins to the community. He allows the devil to overpower his religious duties while sitting in the background watching Hester Prynne be publicly brutalize for the sin he knowingly took part in. Throughout the story Hawthorne supports the notion that the "black man" has overpowered the minister by using Pearl as the key character who points out his malicious and cowardice ways. "Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already" are
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