The Scarlet Letter .. Chapter Twenty three - The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter .. Post #49

That final word came forth with the minister’s expiring breath. The multitude, silent till then, broke out in a strange, deep voice of awe and wonder, which could not as yet find utterance, save in this murmur that rolled so heavily after the departed spirit. Dimmesdale died. Why did he die? Maybe he would have died years before but Chillingworth tortured him. As the Devil he kept him alive with his torture to have somebody to get 'food' from. Now as he does not have a sin within him and so Chillingworth does not have anything to get out of Dimmesdale anymore. It is like he already has been in hell but now as he got pure with revealing his sin he finally got into heaven.