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.