noon, but the Dimmesdale refused. Out of the darkness, Mr. Chillingworth
appeared, and the Reverend spoke his fear and hatred of the man. He asked
who he really was, and because of her oath, Hester kept her silence. Pearl
whispered gibberish to him in revenge for him not standing with them the
next day on the scaffold. The Reverend looked up into the sky and saw a
meteor trail that looked like a large red ‘A’ leering at him. Mr.
Chillingworth told him to come home and he left the scaffold with the
evilly happy physician.
Chapter 13: Seven years had passed since little Pearl’s birth. The letter
on Hester’s chest to the village people had become a symbol of her good
deeds. It set her apart from the general population, but many looked on
her as a sister of charity. When someone was in need she was always the
one by his or her side. Many people in town said the A stood for able.
She had changed. She was an empty form, void of the passion and love that
people were able to see in her before.
Her luxurious hair was always hidden from the sight of the people. After
the minister’s vigil, Hester found a new cause for sacrifice, a new
purpose. She decided to talk to the old physician, her former husband, and
try to save his victim from further mental torture. After making her
decision, she came upon him as he was walking the peninsula.
Chapter 14: Hester instructed Pearl to go run and play and she went to a
pool and saw herself there. Hester accosted Mr. Chillingworth and he began
telling her of all the good things the people in the town had said about
her. The leaders in the town at the last council meeting had even thought
about admitting Hester to take the letter off her bosom. Hester told him
that if the Lord meant her to take it off her chest that it would have
fallen off long ago. While they began talking, Hester took a good look at
him. In the past seven years he had aged well, but there was a strikingly
different look about him. He wore a guarded look of an eager angry man who
was out for revenge.
They began talking about the minister and Mr. Chillingworth reveals that
had it not been for his care, the minister would have died long ago.
Hester asks if he has not had enough revenge since he was able to torture
the minister every day by burying into his heart. He answers no, that it
will never be enough. Hester tells him that she plans on revealing his
secret to the minister and he tells her that neither of them are sinful and
evil, they just must lead the lives that they were given because of her
sin. They say farewell, and Hester leaves him to gathering herbs.
Chapter 15: Hester watches him for a while from a distance disgusted at the
evil she sees in him. She turns to find little Pearl who was playing with
all the different things in nature. When Pearl goes back to her mother,
Hester sees that the child has made a letter A out of seaweed and placed it
on her chest. Hester asks the child if she knows what the letter her
mother wears means. Pearl answers that it is the same reason the minister
keeps his hand over his chest.
That is all she knows however, and she asks earnestly why she wears the
scarlet letter, and why the minister places his hand over his heart. Ever
since she was little, Pearl had a certain fascination with the letter that
tortured her mother even more. Hester decided it was better to not
unburden her sin upon her child and told her daughter that it meant
nothing. After that day however, Pearl would ask her mother two or three
times a day what the scarlet letter meant.
Chapter 16: : Hester learned that the Minister had gone into the woods to
visit a friend who lived among the Indians. She learned when he was
expected to return, and when the day came, she and Pearl went into the
forest so she could catch him on his return and speak with him in private.
As they enter the forest, Pearl says that she can stand in the sunlight,
but the sunlight runs away from Hester. In response, Hester reaches out to
touch the stream of light that flocks around the little elf-child, and it
vanishes when her hand comes near. Pearl then asks her mother for a story
about the black man who inhabits the forest, which she over heard a woman
the previous evening talking about. Pearl said that people went into the
forest and signed the Black man’s book with their blood and that she heard
the scarlet letter was the black man’s mark on her mother. They traveled
into the deep into the forest and stopped next to a little brook that Pearl
began playing around. After a while, they saw the Reverend Dimmesdale come
walking slowly down the path, and Hester tells Pearl to run and play.
Chapter 17: Hester calls out to the Minister and he instantly straightens
up and looks towards her. He finds out it is she and they inquire on how
their lives have been in the last seven years. They sit down together on a
log, and ask each other if they have found peace. The minister expresses
his sadness and how he feels like a hypocrite teaching others to be holy,
when he himself has a terrible hidden sin. Hester tries to help him by
talking with him and caring for him. He thanks her for her friendship.
She then tells him of Roger Chillingsworth, how he is her husband, and out
for revenge. Dimmesdale is horrified but knew that something was wrong
with Roger Chillingworth. Hester could not take the frown that descended
upon his face, and asked him if he forgave her. He has, and she asks if he
remembers what they had. She hints that they once had a great passion and
affection for each other. Hester talks of them leaving together. Arthur
says he has not the strength to travel that far, but with Hester helping
him, they thought they could do it.
Chapter 18: Together they decide to leave the New World together and not
torture themselves further with their sin so that only God will judge them.
To them, they are damned already. Hester unhooks her scarlet letter and
tosses it by the bubbling brook. They make plans together and say that
they will leave for England on the ship that is in the harbor. Talking of
their love and their plans, they call back Pearl, for once happy and with
lifted spirits. Pearl is off in the forest playing and interacting with
the animals. When they call her back, Pearl comes slowly when she sees
them sitting together.
Chapter 19: They sat there looking at Pearl as she approached. She had
adorned herself with wild flowers and looked like a fairy child. They
rejoiced in their child as she came towards him, and Arthur was
exceptionally afraid and anxious for the interview. Pearl stopped at the
brook and stared at them. The child pointed at her mother with a frown.
Hester called out to her harshly to come and Pearl began screaming and
throwing a tantrum. Hester realized that the child was upset that her
scarlet letter was not affixed to her mother’s breast. She walked over to
where it lay on the ground and showed it to the child. She pinned it back
into place, and Pearl was pacified and happy again. They approached the
minister and the three of them held hands, and they tried to explain to her
that they were all going to be a happy family. The minister kissed Pearl’s
forehead and she ran quickly to the brook to try to wash it away.
Chapter 20: Arthur Dimmesdale walked home happily. For the first time in
seven years, there was a bounce in his step and a light in his hurting
heart. On his way, he saw some of his parishioners and he had thoughts of
corruption on his mind. He thought about the reaction he would get if he
whispered corrupting things in their ears. There are three different
people he runs into in which he feels this. He resists the temptation to
do this, and wonders why he is having these thoughts. He wonders if he
signed the black man’s book in the forest with his blood. He runs into a
woman known as the town witch, and she tells him the next time he wants to
go into the forest she would go with him. When he arrives home, Mr.
Chillingworth comes into his room, and the Reverend refuses to take anymore
of his medicine. He sits at his desk and reworks the sermon he had planned
for the following celebration.
Chapter 21: A public holiday because of the election was planned and
everyone from that and the neighboring towns attended in their best
clothing. Hester and little Pearl attended but stayed slightly apart from
the crowd. Though everyone was packed close to see the parade, there was
an empty circle around Hester because of her scarlet letter. She had gone
previously to make plans with the captain of the ship that they were going
to take to England, and she saw the captain of that vessel talking to Roger
Chillingworth. The captain then came over to her and informed her that the
physician would be attending the voyage with them. She looked towards him,
and he smiled at her evilly.
Chapter 22: The parade began and Pearl saw the minister when he reached the
front. She asked if that was the same minister who kissed her in the
woods, and Hester told her to not talk about it in the marketplace.
Mistress Hibbins approached her and began talking to Hester about the
minister. Hester denied any involvement with him, and they began watching
as he preached to the people. Pearl left her mother and wandered around.
The captain of the ship told Pearl to give her mother a message for him.
She told him that her father was the Prince of Air. She threatened him and
ran to her mother. Hester’s mind wandered and thought about how she would
soon be free of he scarlet letter and the pain associated with it.
Chapter 23: The minister ended his incredible speech and it was one of the
best of his life. The people were inspired and as the parade turned
therefor, everyone would exit. The minister looked exceptionally sick and
called to Hester and Pearl to come to him. Roger Chillingworth ran towards
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