Entry 29:
"It was inconceivable...it was his genuine impulse to adore the truth, and to reckon all things shadow-like...that had not its divine essence as the life within their life...Then what was he?-a substance?-or the dimmest of all shadows?... He longed to speak out, from his own pulpit, at the full height of his voice, and tell the people what he was...turn my pale face heavenward..I who have laid the hand of baptism upon your children..I who have breathed the parting prayer over your dying friends, to whom the Amen sounded faintly from a world which they had quitted..I your pastor, whom you so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie!"
Dimmesdale wants and needs to be honest in order to survive, but he's not only afraid to lose his job and the respect of all the people in his society, but he doesn't want to cause Hester or Pearl any more pain. For not being honest earlier, he's embarrassed for hiding his secret for this long, and looks like a coward. He helped everyone in town, and they all listened to his sermons and took what he said into perspective. He's basically a fraud to the town, and is a hypocrite when saying that 'it was his genuine impulse to adore the truth, and to reckon all things shadow-like.' Shadows go back to the ability to hide the truth, and cover his lie. The shadows have sucked the life from him, and is now pale, but if he turns his face towards heaven, he will have to tell the truth and light will be shown upon him.
Note the end: everyone still looks up to Dimmesdale, perhaps even more when he reveals himself. So what stops him is FEAR.
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