The Saddest of All Prisons

“The saddest of all prisons is a person’s own heart,” quoted from Nathaniel Hawthorn. Despite all the infamous prisons in the world, the worst prison one can ever find is actually in one’s own heart, where a person conceals his or her deep emotions within themselves. In many of his work, Nathaniel Hawthorn proves how guilt can affect and isolate one from the society. For example, Dimmesdale in the Scarlet Letter, who as a respected minister in the Puritan community, had committed adultery. Instead of revealing his crime, Dimmesdale was too afraid to confess that he concealed his emotion deep within his heart. As these emotion and guilt builds up, it eventually destroy Dimmesdale by driving him sick and forcing him to commit suicide. These prisons of emotion often times can last forever in one’s heart and can never be broken. Would people today still hide away their guilt deep within their heart? I believe it would be a yes. However, we will never be able to find out since they hide their emotion “secretly” within themselves that they may just perhaps perform and act normally without being severely influenced by the emotion. As human, it’s normal for as to hide our feelings to avoid shame and humiliation from the community. It is unlikely that one would confess unless forcefully told to do so.