Chapter 15 - Hester and Pearl

Chapter 15 - Hester and Pearl
By: Jayne Pilachowski

Summary:

            After a short visit in the forest, between Roger Chillingworth and Hester, Chillingworth departs and continues to pick up herbs and plants.  After he walks away, Hester is thinking about how she wants something bad to happen to him and even admits she hates him.  She knows hating him is another major sin, considering Roger Chillingworth is her husband and they had good times in the past, but Hester does not care.  Meanwhile, Pearl is playing down by the stream; she goes in and out of the water, sails boats down the stream, and picks up pebbles to throw at birds.  Finally, she makes herself into a mermaid using natural wildlife around her, and her final touch is a green letter “A” that she puts on her bosom.  She hopes this will provoke her mother to tell her what the scarlet letter stands for.  Hester comes by and sees the letter on Pearl.  Upon examining it, she entertains in the child’s amusement for a little while, but soon realizes all the implications of the question and lies about the scarlet letter.  Nevertheless, Pearl continues to question her mother about it, but Hester never tells her the truth.

 

 

1. Hester’s Sins

 

          Throughout the novel, Hawthorne has developed the ideas of secret sin and guilt.  In Puritan society, everyone is suppose to act pure and as if they are the chosen ones who are going to get into Heaven.  However, with Hester’s child and the letter "A" on her bosom, it is widely known that Hester has committed a major sin.  Others feel Hester is not going to Heaven.  However, Hester still has a secret sin, which others do not know about.  Hester says, “Be it sin or no … I hate the man [Roger Chillingworth]” (Hawthorn 134).  Hester does not like Roger Chillingworth because of the actions he has taken.  She exclaims how she wants something bad to happen to him, such as him gathering bad herbs or the herbs dying once his cold hands touch them.
 

          Hester admits this secret sin to both the reader and to herself.  She knows it is a sin, but that does not seem to bother her.  She has already been found guilty of committing the sin of adultery.  Therefore, having this sin, of hating her husband, does not seem to be a big issue to her.  Other characters, such as Reverend Dimmesdale, are constantly haunted by their secret sin.  It seems that the letter “A” has completely shaped Hester’s personality and thoughts to the point where she is not afraid to admit one of her sins.  It is already known that she is not going to Heaven, so what is one more sin?  Although she cannot admit this secret sin to anyone else, since others do not know Roger Chillingworth is her husband, it does not weigh on her conscience.  Hester’s secret sin does not bother her because of previous experiences that have shaped her.

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2. Pearl's "A"

          Pearl is growing older, and now, at the age of seven, she has become more aware and curious of situations around her.  Pearl acts like an innocent child, such as when she plays in the water.  Also, the way she adorns herself with the letter “A”, is done in innocence.  However, her main objective is to find out why her mother wears the “A”.

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          Pearl is extremely smart for her age, and Hester comes to realize this.  By adorning herself with the “A”, Pearl hopes her mother will tell her what the letter “A” represents and why she wears it.  Pearl believes that if she acts like and imitates her mother, she will get her way.  However, when Pearl asks what the letter means, Hester sidesteps the question at first.    Later, Hawthorne explains, “The thought occurred to Hester that the child might really be seeking to approach her with childlike confidence, and doing what she could, and as intelligently as she knew how, to establish a meeting-point of sympathy” (Hawthorne 137).  Pearl is very smart and is using tactics to get what she wants.  Pearl has even picked up on the fact that Reverend Dimmesdale always puts his hand over his heart when she sees him, just like Hester has a symbol over her heart.  It is interesting that Pearl is the only one in society who has noticed the Reverend's gesture.  Pearl has taken an interest in the “A” and is doing her very best to determine its meaning.

          It is  also interesting that Hester never reveals the actual meaning of the letter.  Instead, she says she likes the “gold-thread” (Hawthorne 138) on it.  This is the first time that Hester has ever lied about the meaning of the scarlet letter, symbolizing the scarlet letter no longer has the same meaning it used to have.  When Hester first began to wear the scarlet letter, it had a negative meaning of adultery.  Hester was looked upon as a horrible and sinful character.  Now, after all the help she has provided others, the scarlet letter has a better, more positive meaning.  It has shaped Hester’s character and actually made her a stronger woman.  Also, Pearl is the human life form of the scarlet letter, and since she does not know and will not be told its negative meaning, it is almost as if the negative connotation of the “A” has disappeared.  The scarlet letter has taken on a more positive meaning.


Gossamer Thread: Yours, Mine and Ours

          Yours, Mine and Ours is about a mother of 10 kids and a father of 8 kids who are now one big family.  However, the kids do not like that they have been joined together and make up a plan to separate their family.  In the end, they realize they do not want their family separated though, and they try to fix their past actions.  For example, the mother likes a messy office.  When the kids were trying to break-up the family, they organized their mother’s office to try to create conflict within the family.  However, when they are trying to fix their previous mistakes, the smaller kids mess up their mother’s office.

          The kids in the movie act in the same manner as Pearl does in The Scarlet Letter.  They are innocent children and do not know the deeper meaning behind certain situations.  The kids think that completely messing-up the office is just how the mother likes it and this will make their family stay together, just like Pearl believes wearing the same object as her mother, the “A”, will get her mother to tell her the information that she wants, the meaning of the “A”.  In neither instance, however, do the young ones find out the true meaning behind the situation.  Pearl and the children in the movie share common characteristics.

Chapter 15 - Hester and Pearl

Summary: 

The chapter begins in a field, with Roger Chillingworth stooping around and picking up herbs here and there and placing them in a basket he had on his arm. Hester, watching Chillingworth pick herbs and roots, imagines to herself a few dreadful things regarding the man. She imagines awful things directed toward Chillingworth, such as what if the earth were to grow poisonous shrubs for him to pick and why everything good he touches doesn't turn evil and hated. She wondered how the sun, shining everywhere else, fell on him. They went home after the long day and all Hester could think of was her hate for Chillingworth. He attempted to convince her to be happy by his side, but Hester was not having it. Hester then called over Pearl. While Chillingworth and Hester were speaking earlier, she entertained herself by flirting with her own image in a pool of water. Once she found out it was not real, she then continued to amuse herself by making small boats out of birch bark in which she placed snails on, she collected starfish, and placed a jellyfish to bake in the sun, beating down on it. She saw a flock of seabirds feeding near the sea shore and she began to pick up rocks and pelting them. She managed to hit one bird and break its wing, and at that point she stopped because she felt bad. Throughout the rest of the chapter, Pearl begged her mother multiple times to tell her what the "A" on her mother means as well as why the minister, Dimmesdale, keeps his hand over his heart while he sleeps. Hester refuses to tell her daughter the answer to these questions, claiming she is too young to understand. At one point she feels it would create a stronger mother-daughter bond between them, but she refrains from allowing the truth to get out. She asks her all day, falling asleep wondering why an "A" is on her mother's chest and wakes up asking yet again. Hester threatens to put her in the dark closet and the chapter ends.

Point One: Hester's Marital Struggles 

Throughout the beginning parts of the chapter, Hawthorne delves into Hester's train of thought watching Chillingworth pick herbs and roots from the ground. She shows a great amount of hatred toward her husband.

"Would not the earth, quickened to an evil purpose by the sympathy of his eye, greet him with poisonous shrubs, of species hitherto unknown, that would start up under his fingers? Or might it suffice him, that every wholesome growth should be converted into something deleterious and malignant at his touch? Did the sun, which shone so brightly everywhere else, really fall upon him?" (Hawthorne, 134)

By describing her husband in this way, it shows that clearly Hester has been hurt by Chillingworth, and she feels he is evil and should pay somehow. This also shows that there is some fire in Hester and that her and Pearl really aren't too different at all. They are both stubborn and independent.

Point Two: Pearl's Attention to Detail, Pearl's Progression as a Symbol

Taking place seven years after the situation arose between Roger Chillingworth and Hester Prynne, Pearl is now older, therefore more wise and intelligent. She, as done in other chapters, acts stubborn and bold at times but also appears to be far ahead of her age when it comes to intelligence. She pieces together a relationship between Dimmesdale holding his hands to his heart as he sleeps to Hester's "A" on her chest.

"'(Hester) Dost thou know, child, wherefore thy mother wears this letter?'

'Truly do I!' answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother's face. 'It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart!'" (Hawthorne, 136)

This quote is one of the many occasions in which Pearl asked her mother for answers regarding her "A" on her chest and why the minister holds his hand over his heart when he sleeps. Pearl has progressed into a very wise young girl with great attention to detail and her intelligence allows her to piece these separate things together fairly easily. Her development as a symbol has also taken large jumps in this portion of the novel because when she is out and exploring and pelting birds with rocks, she feels remorse, adding another dimension that we have not seen before in Pearl thus far.

'Wow' Factor:

In this episode of "Spongebob Squarepants", Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward were all stuck in a treehouse next to their houses in Bikini Bottom and when Squidward tried to pull them to the ground by reaching out the window, they were flung to a remote island. They have a conch shell, which is the leader of their "club" and you cannot do anything without asking the conch first. As Spongebob and Patrick feast, Squidward is stuck asking the conch if he can eat and the conch does not approve.

This relates to Chapter 15 in "The Scarlet Letter" because throughout the chapter, Pearl is constantly asking Hester why she has an "A" on her chest and why the minister sleeps with his hand over his heart, and she refuses to tell her why because she feels Pearl is too young at the moment. Like Squidward, Pearl is asking a question over and over again, and it reminded me of this situation Squidward was in when he asked the same thing multiple times over the span of less than a minute. Both of these situations were annoying, and that, in my opinion, brought these situations together.

Chapter Nine: The Leech 

Summary:

            Roger Chillingworth entered the town as a doctor, and he was readily accepted as skilled surgeons and doctors rarely came along. He arrived with this new name because he did not wish to stand beside Hester on her pedestal of shame. Hawthorne continues to discuss Chillingworth as a man who had led a upright and religious life and knew a great deal about the ancient art of medicine. Just at the time he arrived, Reverend Dimmesdale happened to be ill. The people adored him; they said if he were to die, then it was because the world was no longer worthy of him any longer. In addition, the Puritans believed it was God’s work that Chillingworth arrived. At first, Dimmesdale refused help from the doctor, however later he reluctantly agreed. The two grew closer and closer, and Dimmesdale enjoyed the relief that camefrom hearing a different, scientific view of the world. Chillingworth was constantly observing Dimmesdale and trying to understand him, however the Reverend was so private. The two then moved in together in the house of a pious widow of good social rank. Chillingworth tried to pry every secret out of Dimmesdale, but as Dimmesdale kept private, Roger Chillingworth grew colder and darker. The people believed Dimmesdale was haunted either by Satan himself or by Satan’s messenger in the person of old Roger Chillingworth. 

Point One: The Guilt of Reverend Dimmesdale

         Throughout the chapter, the guilt inside Reverend Dimmesdale is just eating him up. Chillingworth, to Dimmesdale, was an innocent doctor coming to town at just the right time. The elders, deacons, matrons, and young women of the congregation were all determined that Mr. Dimmesdale should try out the doctor’s freely offered help, but the Reverend at first refused the help. Why would this man suffer, when clearly a help from God was sent to him? The guilt from cheating with Chillingworth's wife was so powerful he would rather choose death. 

•  “I could be well content, that my labors, and my sorrows, and my sins, and my pains, should shortly end with me, and what is earthly of them be buried in my grave, and the spiritual go with me to my eternal state, rather than that you should put your skill to the proof in my behalf" (Hawthorne 93).

              Reverend Dimmesdale was also reluctant to moving in with Chillingworth. Most would be appreciative of this kind offer by a doctor. In Dimmesdale's case, however, he would have a constant reminder of the sin he had committed. Again, the guilt inside him was pushing him away from help, but he could not deny it as the townspeople would question him. 

 

      Nathaniel Hawthorne also incorporates a few allusions to other works and people which highlight adultery, sin, and ultimately, guilt. Tapestries hung on the wall of Dimmesdale's new apartment, and one in particular told the biblical story of David and Bathsheba. In this story, King David commits adultery with Basheba, the wife of his most trusted soldier, Uriah. Hawthorne also cleverly mentions the murder of the famous Sir Thomas Overbury. This man was poisoned for is opposition to an adulterous relationship. Hawthorne includes these because he wants to reinforce Dimmesdale's wrongdoing and perhaps a foreshadowing element to his downfall. 

Point Two: The Leech

       Nathaniel Hawthorne does not title chapter nine "Leech" for no reason. In the time period if The Scarlet Letter, people would refer to a doctor colloquially as a “leech." "Physician" and "leech" describe what he's doing rather than what he is. He's learned enough to get by as the physician, but he acts as the leech with Dimmesdale, keeping so close to the man that he's almost attached. Leeches are blood-suckers; they suck the life right out of you. Chillingworth had successfully become Dimmesdale's primary doctor and roomate. According to Hawthorne, if the doctor has natural wisdom along with intuition, doesn’t have too big an ego, or any serious character flaws; if he has the innate power to become so intimate with his patient that the patient speaks what he imagines he has only thought; if the doctor receives these revelations calmly, acknowledging them only by silence, a small breath, and now and then a small word of understanding; if these qualities of a friend are joined with his status as a doctor, then, sure enough, the soul of the sufferer will reveal itself. The leech will, in disguise, expose Dimmesdale and his sin. 

"So Roger Chillingworth—the man of skill, the kind and friendly physician—strove to go deep into his patient’s bosom, delving among his principles, prying into his recollections, and probing every thing with a cautious touch, like a treasure-seeker in a dark cavern" (Hawthorne 94).

A leech is a hanger-on who seeks advantage or gain. Roger Chillingworth is a perfect example of a leech. He has attached himself to Arthur Dimmesdale like a harmful and vicious worm. His only goal in life is to expose Dimmesdale's ignominy and get revenge.

XOXO, Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl is a television show which highlights the life of the rich teens of the Upper East Side in New York. These teens surround themselves with drama, secrets, cheating, and lies. Gossip girl is a website run by an anonymous blogger. This website constantly exposes deep secrets of the show's characters causing absolute chaos. Gossip girl receives emails from the people of New York containing pictures and the hot gossip it can't see. It is an online paparazzi.

        Roger Chillingworth IS gossip girl. Although the website does not personally badger the characters as Chillingworth does with Dimmesdale, it has a paparazzi to perform that task. Like the dreaded camera-carriers run by gossip girl, Chillingworth eats into Dimmesdale's mind to find out his deepest, darkest secrets and expose them to the world. Gossip Girl, like Chillingworth, does everything in its power to expose every lie, cheat, and scandal of the public's favorite stars to show that they are only human and should not be idolized. Dimmesdale is praised by all of the people, and Chillingworth wants to remove this town idol out of his own pleasure and revenge. 

Chapters 7 + 8- The Governor's Hall and The Elf-Child and the Minister

Background

The Governor's Hall describes Hester and Pearl's trip to the Governor's mansion and the mansion itself. The Elf-Child and the Minister describes the discussion between Hester, the Governor, Reverend Dimmsdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Mr. Wilson. On the way to the mansion, Hester and Pearl encounter two townspeople who criticize and insult Hester. Pearl is unwilling to accept this, and screams like a wild creature at the townspeople before returning to her mother and continuing on their way to the mansion. Once there, Hester takes Pearl to look at the garden, expecting to maybe see the lavish gardens she would have seen in England. But the Governor had not succeeded in planting in the barren land of the new world. The men discuss the fate of Pearl, as the town had been contemplating taking her away from Hester. Hester begs Reverend Dimmsdale to plead her case for her, which he does successfully. They decide to leave Pearl and Hester as they are.

Pearl as the Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne has emphasized in past chapters that Pearl is not just Hester's pearl, she is also a reminder of her sin and the shame she bears in the eyes of the community. But this is the first time he refers to Pearl as the Scarlet Letter, and it is a significant development in the symbolism. Hawthorne describes Hester's epiphany.

"But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb, and, indeed, of the child's whole appearance, that it irresistibly and inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!" (77)

Not only does Hawthorne stress that Pearl is the scarlet letter in living form, but he also tries to show her as a wild, untamed creature. He does this multiple times in the two chapters, first with her screaming at the townspeople on the way to the mansion, then with her conversations with the Governor and Reverend Dimmsdale, and finally with her walking down the hall at the end. Hawthorne refers to her as a wild creature.

"But the child, unaccustomed to the touch of familiarity of any but her mother, escaped through the open window, and stood on the upper step looking like a wild tropical bird, of rich plumage, ready to take flight into the upper air." (84)

Both descriptions of her aid Hawthorne in painting a picture of Pearl, but he never comes out and says that Pearl is the side of Hester that she both can't and won't show to the world. She is Hester without a filter, and though Hawthorne never states this, it is the idea he wants the reader to have.

Flowers

A motif that continues throughout the novel is the image of flowers and what they symbolize. From wildflowers thrown at the scarlet letter to roses growing outside a prison door, Hawthorne has used many examples to move the motif forward. At the Governor's mansion, Hester expects to see the magnificent gardens grown in England, but even he can't make flowers grow on the harsh soil. But he is able to plant a few rose bushes.

"But the proprietor appeared already to have relinquished, as hopeless, the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening.[...] There were a few rosebushes, however[...]" (81)

Hawthorne specifies rosebushes, just like the bush that grows outside the prison. He also states that the ground in New England is not suited for the growing of the civilized gardens of England. While the ocean and the woods on either side of the colony are considered the wild areas and the colony was supposed to be the civilized part. But the Governor's inability to grow in the area shows that it isn't truly the civilized area, and the society itself may not be as civilized as they thought it was. The rosebushes also add to the imagery of Pearl as a wild creature.

"After putting her finger in her mouth, with many ungracious refusals to answer good Mr. Wilson's questions, the child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison-door." (85)

Wow Factor

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy's best friend, Willow, is the nerdy one. She is known as being reliable and bookish, and in the episode "Doppelgangland", she decides she doesn't want to be seen as that anymore. When another character wishes them into an alternate universe a few months earlier, they discovered Willow in the other world was a vampire and evil. In "Doppelgangland", evil Willow is brought into the normal world by magic. Much like Pearl is the part of Hester that doesn't have a filter, bad Willow and Willow are the same person, but evil Willow is bolder.

Chapter 12 The Minister’s Vigil

Chapter 12 The Minister’s Vigil

Summary of the chapter:

            The chapter starts off with Mr. Dimmesdale going to the center of the town to stand on the scaffold where Hester Prynne was first judged by the whole town. When he arrives at the scaffold his mind begins to go through numerous horrible events that could occur if everyone finds out his dark secret until the fears over power him and he lets out a huge scream. While standing there Hester and Pearl arrive on their way home from Governor Winhrop’s passing and they stand on the scaffold together as a meteor flies over head to form a letter “A” in the sky. Shortly after this, Roger Chillingworth finds them together on the scaffold and after taking in the scene in a diabolical and almost victorious manner he brings Mr. Dimmesdale home. The next day Mr. Dimmesdale gives the best Sabbath he has ever given and denies he ever saw the letter “A” in the sky the other night.

The letter “A” from the Meteor

The letter “A” that forms from a meteor that flies over head in the night sky embodies two separate meanings…

             Adultery: During this time in the story Mr. Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester are all present, standing together on the scaffold late at night. Dimmesdale feels a “rush of new life” when they’re together on the scaffold as if he just received what he had been missing all along. Then Pearl proceeds to ask him if he will join them together on the scaffold tomorrow at noon, but Dimmesdale refuses by saying that he won’t tomorrow but rather,

“‘At the great judgment day,’ whispered the minister,-and, strangely enough, the sense that he was a professional teacher of the truth impelled him to answer the child so. ‘ Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!’” Page 118.

This response, as kind-hearted as it may be, also shows Dimmesdale’s fears of facing judgment in his society. However, soon after this statement the meteor passes over head lighting up the eerie night around the village to the point where it seemed like,

 “They stood in the noon of that strange and solemn splendor, as if it were the light that is to reveal all secrets,” Page 118.

After this great flash of light the sky was left with a huge red glowing letter “A” just like that of Hester’s scarlet letter and the one Mr. Dimmesdale has felt in his heart all along symbolizing their adultery.

            Angel: Later in the chapter this symbol takes a different meaning determined by a sexton that confronts Mr. Dimmesdale after his Sabbath. During the night of the meteor Governor Winhrop passed away and other clergymen determined the letter “A” to represent Governor Winhrop becoming an angel,

 “But did your reverence hear of the portent that was seen last night?-a great red letter in the sky,-the letter A, which we interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winhrop was made an angel this past night,” Page 121.

 In this sense the letter and Governor Winhrop can be determined to be an angel because he was the sole reason for Hester and Pearl’s arrival at the scaffold since they were returning home from his passing. It was as if an angel brought them together after hearing Dimmesdale’s distress and cries.

The Glove

            The night Mr. Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester stood on the scaffold, Dimmesdale must have dropped one of his gloves and left it there. This glove was found in the morning by another clergy member and returned to him after his Sabbath the next day. The sexton who returned it said it had been put there by Satan to try to taint his reputation as a reverend,

 “’It was found,” said the sexton, “this morning, on the scaffold where evil-doers are set up to public shame. Satan dropped it there, I take it, intending a scurrilous jest against your reverence. But, indeed, he was blind and foolish, as he ever and always is. A pure hand needs no glove to cover it!’” Page 121.

 The attempt has failed according to the sexton since he believes that Mr. Dimmesdale is pure of heart and therefore doesn't and shouldn't wear gloves. However, this is not the case. Mr. Dimmesdale is still hiding his horrible secret that he is the father of Pearl and has committed adultery as well. In this case the glove serves as a way to hide Dimmesdale’s impurity by covering it up.

The Malevolent Figure of Roger Chillingworth

In this chapter Roger Chillingworth, Dimmesdale’s physician and the real husband of Hester Prynne, makes the mistake of showing his true evil. During the same night where Mr. Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Hester were standing on the scaffold and Governor Winhrop passed away, Roger Chillingworth stumbled upon the evidence he had been searching for when he encounters Dimmesdale with Hester and Pearl. Roger had been searching to find who was the true father of Pearl as well as what had been ailing his patient, Dimmesdale, and in this one moment he discovered both. However his intensions for both of these discoveries were driven by an evil force that had been growing within him. Once Dimmesdale had realized that they were no longer alone in witnessing this cosmic spectacle he saw the malevolent figure of Roger. This immediately strikes fear into Dimmesdale as he realizes the true evil that has been hidden within Roger and that he is not who he seem to be.

The WOW Factor

Nothing Left to Say by Imagine Dragons

            This song Nothing Left to Say by Imagine Dragons depicts the situation Mr. Dimmesdale is left in chapter 12. His enemy, Roger Chillingworth, has just figured out his deepest secret and Dimmesdale quite literally can’t say anything to defend the scenario that Roger had witnessed. Even when Roger offers to bring Dimmesdale home his best response is basically a feeble yes because there is nothing that he could say to dissuade him of what he has seen. The song also talks about how the engine fueling his being is “collapsing as it sees the pain” which represents his failing health due to his hidden secret even though “I keep pushing on” which is another line stating that despite his failing health he continues his commitment as a reverend. The overall tone of the song with its power at the chorus and somber harmonizes exemplify Mr. Dimmesdale’s strong feelings about an ill-fated situation.

Chapter 11- The Interior of a Heart

Ch. 11- The Interior of a Heart

Summary-
   Chillingworth has become more persistent in his pursuit to find out what is ailing Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale has had more effective sermons and the parishioners think that he is really connected to God and want to be around him. Dimmesdale whips himself out of the guilt he is feeling from his sins and also begins to see ghosts of people that have died and also of Hester and Pearl.

1. Dimmesdale’s Sermons
   Other members of the clergy had spent more time understanding and connecting with God and reading books because they were older. However, Dimmesdale knew how to talk and connect with the parishioners and for this reason they all respected him and wanted to be around him all the time. Dimmesdale understood and felt their pain and was able to communicate that in his sermons. Because of this, they “deemed the young clergyman a miracle of holiness” (Hawthorne 109). Everyone appreciated him and thought he was so close to God and was definitely going to heaven as the narrator describes, “The aged members of the flock [...] believed that he would go heavenward before them, and enjoined it upon their children, that their old bones should be buried close to their young pastor’s holy grave” (Hawthorne 109-110).  Everyone, even those older than Dimmesdale, believed he was very holy and close to God and was for sure going to go to heaven. They thought that being buried near him would give them a better chance of going to heaven. Because of the sin Dimmesdale was keeping inside him, he was able to communicate some of his pain through his sermons and was able to relate to some other people, which is why he was so likable. However, no one knew the truth and Dimmesdale felt as though he was lying and cheating the parishioners. He knows he is probably not going to heaven and the narrator states, “And, all this time, perchance, when poor Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave, he questioned with himself whether the grass would ever grow on it, because an accursed thing must there be buried! (Hawthorne 110).  

 
   Dimmesdale knows he is wrong and the narrator reveals that Dimmesdale wants to tell the truth to people, but is too afraid. Instead, he says that he is an awful person, but the parishioners still respect him and think of themselves as even worse.

2.The Scourge
   Because of the guilt and pain Dimmesdale was feeling, he scourges himself. To try and “purify” his body, he would do this as a way to deal with what he’s done and try and redeem himself. The narrator describes it and says, “It was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast, - not, however, like them, in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium celestial imagination, but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance” (Hawthorne 111). The reason he does this is to try and redeem himself for the sin he committed and try to do good in the eyes of God. He believes, as other Puritans do, as the quote says, that doing something to oneself would purify the body and possibly make things right with their sins and God. Dimmesdale takes it to the extreme and would scourge himself “until his knees trembled.”

   This also demonstrates how Dimmesdale is a coward. First, he won’t admit to the townspeople and parishioners that he has sinned and shouldn’t be as praised as he is. Second, he whips himself in private because he does not want people to know and he doesn’t want to suffer public humiliation, like Hester has.

Wow Factor

NCIS episode “Dagger”

     In this episode, it is revealed that a character named Agent Lee is a mole in NCIS and has been giving out information about the US military. She did not tell anyone at first, but the NCIS team soon discovered it. They found a terrorist who was trying to collect the information Agent Lee had been giving out. Later, the terrorist had captured Agent Lee and was using her as a human shield when another NCIS agent found them. Agent Lee told the other agent to shoot her, thus shooting and killing the terrorist, too.
   In the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale does a similar thing as Agent Lee. Because he knows he did something wrong, he wants to punish himself for it, and so he whips himself. Agent Lee knows what she did was wrong and goes further than Dimmesdale and allows herself to be killed in order to compensate for the damage she caused.

Chaper 10 - The Leech and His Patient

Ch. 10- The Leech and His Patient

Summary-
   Roger Chillingworth is now living with Dimmesdale and is trying to figure out what is making him so sick. He starts to believe that Dimmesdale has a secret that he is keeping to himself and that is affecting his well-being. Chillingworth persistently tries to get him to confess to the secret or at least admit that he has one, but Dimmesdale is sure to give nothing away. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth discuss secrets and whether one should take them to the grave or confess to them well they are still alive. Well they are talking, they hear Pearl outside with Hester.

1. Dimmesdale’s Secret and the Puritan Society
   In the Puritan society, people believed that God had already chosen who was going to go to Heaven and who would go to Hell. Because of this, everyone was supposed to look poised and collected, like they were the one of the chosen ones. They would appear as if nothing was wrong and they had this perfect life. This is part of the reason why Dimmesdale keeps his secret and doesn’t tell anyone that he is Pearl’s father. He is supposed to appear like he has everything under control, especially because he is a minister, but also to appear like he is one of the chosen few that will go to Heaven. When he is talking to Chillingworth he says, “‘Guilty as they may be, retaining, nevertheless, a zeal for God’s glory and man’s welfare, they shrink from displaying themselves black and filthy in the view of men; because, thenceforward, no good can be achieved by them; no evil of the past be redeemed by better service’” (Hawthorne 101). He is saying that in the eyes of men, everyone has to appear good and “clean” because if they do not, they will be seen as worthless and “no good can be achieved by them.” He has to keep his secret of else no one with think highly of him as they do know and he will certainly not be seen as one of the few people that get into Heaven.

 
2. Flowers and Graves
   While Chillingworth is trying to find herbs and things he can use to make medicine for Dimmesdale, he comes across a grave with no tombstone or anything to acknowledge the dead man who was buried there. He finds weeds and herbs there and he thinks that they grew and represent the secrets that the man buried with him. He says to Dimmesdale, “‘They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him’” (Hawthorne 100). In this scenario, the flowers represent the secrets men have and they can either confess to them while they are alive or not and be buried with them. So far, Chillingworth plans to be buried with his secret about being Pearl’s father and not tell anyone about it.

 
   Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are discussing the topic of secrets when they hear Pearl and Hester outside. They see Pearl dancing on a grave and she takes some burrs from near the grave and places them on the scarlet letter. The narrator describes this and says, “ [...] Little Pearl paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock which grew beside the tomb. Taking a handful of these, she arranged them along the lines of the scarlet letter that decorated the maternal bosom, to which the burrs, as their nature was, tenaciously adhered. Hester did not pluck them off” (Hawthorne 102). The burrs are similar to the flowers that Chillingworth found on the other grave. Both were, in fact, found right near a gravestone and have to do with secrets. When Pearl places the burrs she found on her mother’s chest she is almost telling her that she knows Hester has a secret and that is that she knows who the father of Pearl is, but won’t tell anybody. Pearl wants to know who the father is and by pulling these burrs off of the grave and putting them on the scarlet letter, it is almost a way of telling Hester that she will find out her secret and won’t let her take it to the grave like the other man buried near there did. She wants Pearl to have these flowers now and tell her secret while she is alive.

 
   A short while later, she looks up and sees Dimmesdale and Chillingworth looking at her and she throws some of the burrs at Dimmesdale. She is trying to convey a similar message to Dimmesdale that she did to Hester. Although she may not know he is her father, she has an idea that he has a secret and she also wants him to tell the world what it is and not take it to the grave with him either.

Wow Factor
Bad Case of Loving You-

 
“Doctor, doctor, give me the news / I got a bad case of lovin' you / No pill's gonna cure my ill / I got a bad case of lovin' you”

   Chillingworth is trying to find out what is wrong with Dimmesdale, when really it is his affection towards Hester and his secret that he is Pearl’s father that is ailing him. “No pill's gonna cure my ill / I got a bad case of lovin' you.” This line from the song relates to Dimmesdale because until he tells the community and everyone else what he did, nothing can help him. Anything that Chillingworth gives him might help, but it won’t completely cure him because his sin and not being honest about what he has done is really what is making him sick, as Chillingworth thinks.

“Looking for Alaska” by John Green

      Two of the main characters, who go by the names “Pudge” and “The Colonel” go to a private school with a girl who goes by the name “Alaska.” They were all hanging out and then went to bed and Pudge and the Colonel were woken up in the middle of the night by Alaska crying saying that she needed to leave. They helped her get her things and let her leave without telling anyone what happened and figured she would come back. The next morning, they find out she was killed in a car crash. Throughout the rest of the novel, Pudge and the Colonel, but especially Pudge feel really guilty that they just let her leave like that and didn’t try to stop her.
   This relates to “The Scarlet Letter” because in both novels, a character knows something no one else does and can’t tell anyone about it or they could get in serious trouble. Dimmesdale knows he is the father of Pearl but because of the Puritan society, he can’t say anything or he could be seriously harmed. In “Looking for Alaska,” Pudge can’t say anything because he could get in a lot of trouble for letting Alaska leave when she wasn’t allowed to and not telling anyone even after they all knew what happened to her.