The Scarlet Letter - Entry #4 - Chapters 10-12

Every time I read this book, I think of this haha! I've been watching GH with my mom for years now, and the Scarlet Letter and GH are both what? - SCANDALOUS! 

Chillingsworth is without a doubt, getting closer to discovering the connection between Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale. He is increasingly getting more involved in trying to better Dimmesdale's physical and mental state, but I'm still feeling like he doesn't know exactly why yet. He just knows that he has to get to the bottom of it. He's even pushing Dimmesdale's limits in trying to get him to tell Chillingsworth about his "buried sins". It's clear that Dimmesdale is going to hide this at all costs and he gets insulted when Chillingsworth brings it up. But I do agree with Chillingsworth that what Dimmesdale is keeping inside mentaly, is affecting him physically. The mind is a powerful thing. I also found it shocking that when Pearl sees the pair, she says that the "Black Man" (who is the devil) has already captured the minister. I think it's incredible that such a young girl can sense things like that, also contradicting the previous theory that Pearl is a "devil child".

Chapter 11 is mostly about Dimmesdale. As the book goes on, Dimmesdale becomes more and more consumed in his act of sin. I think it affects him more because he is a minister and is probably more involved in the teachings of the bible than any other person in the town. But because of his sin slowly consuming him, he delivers his most powerful sermons yet, mostly about sin. I immediately connected this to "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Johnathan Edwards.

I think chapter 12 is a big jump in the plot in the sense that there is wayyyyyy too much going on. Between the minister having visions and him meeting Hester and Pearl at Governor Winthrop's deathbed and Dimmesdale seeing a red "A" in the sky after a meteor shoots across it...it's all too much. But the one thing I noticed was Pearl's intuitive mind. She is obviously intelligent beyond her years. She really understands more than children at her age generally do. I'm pretty sure that Pearl is completely aware that Dimmesdale is her father. She is completely in touch with something beyond this Earth. I can relate with that. I am a very spiritual person and immediately connected with her in this part of the book.

Anyway, Chillingsworth is now 100% sure that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father, and he is planning his revenge. The end of this book is going to be insane!!

The Scarlet Letter - Entry #3 - Chapters 7-9

I am starting to feel as though the book is starting to get more engaging as it goes on. I'm starting to like the dramaaa! Ha ha!

 

In chapter seven, Hester hears rumors that the town may take Pearl away from her because she may be a "demon-child", and that they will do it for Hester's safety. I perceived this as yet another hypocritical event in this story. Pearl is supposed to be a form of punishment for Hester, a symbol of shame, and the town wants to take away this punishment that was declared for her by the very people who want to take her away. But even though Pearl may be considered a symbol of shame for Hester, I also see her as a guardian angel for Hester. I thought this when a group of kids tried to fling mud at the pair and Pearl, who is three at the time, scares them away. I think that's incredible because how scary could a three year old possibly be?  

 

In chapter eight, Hester and Pearl see Governor Bellingham to determine if Hester will keep her daughter. Minister Dimmesdale speaks up for them saying that Pearl serves as both a blessing and a curse, which wins over the governor. Mysteriously, Pearl takes a liking to Dimmesdale and he also seems to be very fond of her. I think that he is Pearl's father! I actually find this rather obvious, considering the continuing theme of hypocrisy. Adultery is considered a sin in the bible and the town's minister is the most likely identity of Pearl's father in my eyes, only considering how they naturally feel towards one another. At the end of the chapter, the governor's sister invites Hester to a witch's gathering, which she refuses because she has Pearl. This further supports the theory that Pearl is a form of a guardian angel for Hester, keeping her out of harms way. Witchcraft is also considered work of the devil in these times, and since Pearl keeps Hester away from these events, it contradicts the idea that she is a "devil-child".

 

In chapter nine, Chillingsworth is incorporated into the town as the official doctor. Right around this time, Minister Dimmesdale is getting ill complaining of chest pain. Chillingsworth takes Dimmesdale to his home as a patient. I found this funny; predictable even. Of course the undercover husband of the adulterer would take the adulterer's lover into his home not knowing who he is! This book is beginning to sound just like a soap opera! Also even further supporting the theory of Dimmesdale being Pearl's father, his room is adorned with biblical symbols of adultery and their punishments. This makes it seem like Dimmesdale feels guilty that he sinned, but he truly loves Hester. It shocks me that just these symbols don't bring this theory to Chillingworth's attention. He seems like a smart man, but sometimes the author just can't resist creating more suspense and "mystery". I like the drama, I just don't appreciate how it's being told to the reader.

The Scarlet Letter - Entry #2 - Chapters 4-6

In chapters four through six, I found the pace to be faster and the content more interesting, but I can already tell that this book is going to be a hard read for me. I feel like so far this book contains a lot of fluff, and it’s almost difficult to pick out the important bits of each chapter.

In chapter four, I felt how overwhelmed Hester was feeling after going into public with the scarlet letter on her bust and her baby. This is when I fully realized how severe this punishment was in this society of people. I was also shocked to find that the doctor, Roger Chillingworth, is Hester’s husband. Because of the way she acts towards him; for example, the way she acts like the medicine he gave her was poison; makes me wonder how their marriage was to begin with. Were they not involved with each other, or was he possibly even abusive? There are so many possibilities. Hester even refers to Chillingworth as the “Black Man”, which is another name for the Devil. Considering the way he acts with her, with an attitude that is almost forceful due to his anger, I don’t blame her for thinking this. He even says he will find Hester’s lover and get his revenge, but I can’t shake the feeling that he wants revenge on Hester as well…

In chapter five, Hester is released from jail and goes to live in a vacant cottage outside of town. The author mentions that the soil is “sterile” which is why no one lives there. I took this as Hawthorne almost mocking Hester’s character, with Hester being a young fertile woman with a new baby. The author also tells us that Hester is hated by the town, but she makes a living with her outstanding sewing and embroidery skills. I like how Hester’s character is outcast and appears almost ugly through the eyes of the town’s people, but she still manages to make beautiful clothes. This also makes the people of the town more hypocritical because they are accepting her work even though they all hate her. Hester is fully aware of how everyone feels about her, and her shame never fades because of it.

In chapter six, the book goes forward in time a few years and Pearl (Hester’s daughter) is now around the age of three. I feel bad for Pearl because everyone in the town knows how she came into this world, and they view her almost as a walking embodiment of sin. Pearl also becomes Hester’s constant companion, which subjects her to the mockery of all of the town’s people just as much as her mother. I felt sympathetic towards Pearl because she is truly alone in the world all because of her mother’s one mistake. The people of the town refer to her as a “devil child” only because of how she came to be. She even makes up a world of her own with its own characters which are her “friends”, and I think it’s good that she’s learning to cope but it makes me wonder how it may affect her when she’s older. 

The Scarlet Letter - Entry #1 - Chapters 1-3

I have read chapters one through three, which starts on page forth five and ends on page sixty seven. I found the details about the rosebush in the end of the first chapter interesting. the whole first chapter only talks about the prison in the town where the story is set, and the prison is described as an ugly place which "seemed never to have known a youthful era" (Hawthorne 46). The idea of the rosebush in front of the prison occurred to me as a symbol of hope in a place where hope may have been lost or absent, and an object of beauty in an ugly place. I like the contrast that is created in these ideas.

In chapter two, all of the town's people are gathered outside the prison door to see Hester Prynne. In the beginning of this chapter, Hawthorne describes the women in the crowd in detail both physically and behaviorally. I found their described behavior interesting: "...a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons...that would startle us at the present day, whether in respect to its purport or its volume of tone," (49). The author portrays the women in the crowd with a mentality that they are better than Hester due to her sins. It is apparent that the women think very low of Hester, possibly more than the men do.

When Hester emerges from the prison, she seems embarrassed by her marks of punishment, which are the scarlet letter "A" sewn to the bust of her dress and the child that she holds in her arms. Despite her embarrassment, she puts on a smile and walks on toward the crowd, trying to hide her real emotions and appear strong. She even embroidered the red "A" to her gown with gold thread, creating "fantastic flourishes" (51), making it clear to her prosecutors that she wasn't going to let her punishment bring her down. Hester is then led to the scaffold in the middle of the market place, so all of the town's people can see her and her proclaimed symbols of shame. While she stands there with everyone watching her, her life flashes before her eyes in every type of major and minor memory that could possibly be imagined. She even has a moment where she needed to make sure that everything that was happening was actually real, "...she turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real" (57).

In chapter three, background is given about Hester's crime to a white man in Indian garb from a man in the crowd. Hester sees this white man among the other people in the crowd and she recognizes him with shock, which I think will be an important detail later in the story. According to the man telling the story of Hester's crime, Hester had an affair with an unknown man after her husband disappears, and she has an illegitimate child, and now bears the red "A" on her breast. Hester also refuses to reveal the identity of the father of her child, which reveals how much she loves this man. She probably does not want him to endure the punishment with her, and wants him to remain a free man.