Dialectical Journal 21 (Page 130)
"It is done! The whole town
will awake, and hurry forth, and find me here!"
Dimmesdale screams and hopes the
town will wake up and see him there to end his suffering. He hopes in vainly
that he will be discovered because he can't say what he has done himself. It is
like at the beginning of the book when he practically dares Hester to call him
down but she doesn't. It is funny that he finally worked up the courage to tell
them and no one is there, althow it was the middle of the night.
Dialectical Journal 22 (Page 134)
“Come up hither…But the daylight
of this world shall not see our meeting.”
Dimmesdale still is too cowardly
to come out into the daylight and confess. The darkness covers his
sin. Hester will not expose him and believes it is his duty to
confess. Pearl realizes that he belongs with her and her mother on the scaffold
during the daylight not just hidden at night.
Dialectical Journal 23 (Page 137)
‘Who is that man….. take my hand, and mother’s hand, to-morrow noontide.”
The Black Man strikes again when
he made Hester promise not to tell anyone who he was in the prison. Dimmesdale
begs her to help him discover why he is so afraid of Chillingworth, but her
code of honor stops her. Pearl knows but won’t tell because she wants
Dimmesdale to stand with her and her mother and confess.
Dialectical Journal 24 (Page 138)
“It was found…..remarked the old
sexton, grimly smiling.”
Chillingworth was standing near
the scaffold and saw the scene play out with his wife and her lover and their
daughter. The glove represents Dimesdale and Chillingworth is Satan
that the sexton spoke of who was trying to steal Dimmesdale’s soul.
Dialectical Journal 25 (Page 139)
“In her late singular
interview…..along with it its obligations.”
Hester cannot believe that
Dimmesdale’s nerves are shot and is morally defeated. She feels that it is all
her fault that he is in this position because of her actions of not telling him
who Chillingworth really was. She believes Dimmesdale is on the verge of a
nervous breakdown.
Dialectical Journal 26 (Page 141)
“The letter was the symbol….with a
woman’s strength.”
Hester’s position in the community
has changed. She is admired for her strength and courage. She has turned the A
into a valuable lesson of responsibility and developed a place in the puritan
society although she still is outside of it.
Dialectical Journal 27 (Page 145)
“Hester could not ask
herself…talked together in the prison-chamber.”
Hester has realized that she has
become a strong person and is able to take on Chillingworth. She is no longer
afraid of him. She feels that she has allowed Dimmesdale to be thrown to the
Devil because she didn’t stand up and tell him who Chillingworth really was.
She still has a sense of moral consciences to ask for Chillingworth’s
permission before telling him though.
Dialectical Journal 28 (Page 147)
‘Why, Mistress, I hear good things…..should speak a
different purport.’
Hester will not let the magistrate take away her letter. Her
role is now defined by the scarlet letter A, and Pearl is a product of that A.
Hester will not allow the Puritans to define who she is anymore. The purpose of
the A has turned from negative to positive.
Dialectical Journal 29 (Page 148)
“This unhappy person had effected
such a transformation by devoting himself….and deriving his enjoyment thence…”
Chillingworth has, for seven
years, derived pleasure out of torturing Dimmesdale.. Harming Dimmesdale truly
has become his life at this point in the book.
Dialectical Journal 30 (Page 149)
“Since that day, no man… the power left to me to be true.”
Hester confronts Chillingworth and his evil influence on Dimmesdale.
She accuses him of torturing his every move and thought. Dimmesdale is
clueless to that he is actually Hester’s husband and she feels that she taking
part in Chillingworth plan by not stating who he really is.
Dialectical Journal 31 (Page 152)
“Peace, Hester peace… and deal as thou wilt with yonder man”
Hester realized that the sin she committed and her
punishment has ruined both Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. She knows she had paid
for her sins many times and wants to be released from its burden. Chillingworth
grasps that Hester knows that Dimmesdale is a broken man and enjoys her despair
and allows her to tell him the truth.
Dialectical Journal 32 (Page 153)
“Would he not suddenly sink into the earth… so much the
uglier the higher he rose toward heaven?”
Chillingworth’s heart had been corroded from within, and the
seed of revenging had grown into a dark weed of obsession. Chillingworth soul
and heart no longer remain but became the dark, and deadly plants he gathered.
Dialectical Journal 33 (Page 154)
“Yes, I hate him. He has done me worse wrong than I did
him!”
Hester finally realized what an evil person Chillingworth
had become. She reflects how her life with him carried some of her ugliest
memories, and how he deceived her also and tricked her into marrying him. She
becomes conscience that her sin doesn’t compare to what he did to her.
Dialectical Journal 34 (Page 158)
“Mother! Mother! Why does the minister keep his hand over his
heart?”
Pearl had connected her mother scarlet letter A with the
minister’s hand over his heart. Hester is willing to lie about the meaning of
the letter A to protect her daughter. She has always stood up and been able to
accept the consequences of what the A meant except for now.
Dialectical Journal 35 (Page 160)
“Mother,” said little Pearl,“…nothing on my bosom yet!’
When Hester wears the A, the sun doesn’t hit her but when
she removed it, the sun shines on her and makes her glow. Pearl asks
questions that make her mother uncomfortable, but reveal truths. The sun
doesn’t shine on sinners or on the sign of a sin although the sun shines on
Pearl who is a product of sin.
Dialectical Journal 36 (Page 160)
“Will not it come of its own accord, when I am a woman
grown?”
Pearl thinks the scarlet letter is a normal thing that women get when they’re all grown up. She doesn’t see it in a negative light; she sees it as a coming of age thing.
Pearl thinks the scarlet letter is a normal thing that women get when they’re all grown up. She doesn’t see it in a negative light; she sees it as a coming of age thing.
Dialectical Journal 37 (Page 161)
“And mother, the old dame said that this scarlet letter was
the Black Man’s mark on thee… dost thou go to meet him in the night-time?”
People in the village don’t know what Hester’s letter stands
for, so many rumors have been concocted to describe how and why she got it. One
theory is there is a Black Man who has people sign their name in his book and
forever is marked with a scarlet letter. Temptation is the Black Man, luring
people in and marking them forever. Both Hester and Dimmesdale are marked
because of it.
Dialectical Journal 38 (Page 162)
“Continually, indeed, as it stole onward, the streamlet kept
up a babble, kind, quiet, soothing, but melancholy, like the voice of a young
child that was spending its infancy without playfulness….”
This connects with Nature by Emerson, and the transcendentalist
idea of how man is connected to nature and god. Nature reflects the emotions
and characteristics of a person, this brook represents Pearl’s lack of
interaction with other children. She doesn’t know how to play, and that has
made her sad.
Dialectical Journal 39 (Page 163)
“And, mother, he has his hand over his hand….as thou dost,
mother.”
Pearl thinks that the black man has left his mark on
Dimmesdale also and questions why he doesn’t wear his on the outside instead of
hidden on the inside. His illness comes from the secret held within his heart,
which is why he always walks around with his hand held over his heart. Pearl
has connected the link between her father and mother’s sin.
Dialectical Journal 40 (Page 164)
“There was a listlessness in his gait; as if he saw no
reason for taking one step farther…to fling himself down at the root of the
nearest tree, and lie there passive for evermore.”
Dimmesdale has been eating away at himself for seven years
because of the guilt he is filled with. The forest is the only place Dimmesdale
is able to relax. Because it is so secluded, Dimmesdale is comfortable enough
to stop faking his happiness and let out all of his emotions. He is so upset by
the sin he has committed he can barely muster up enough energy to continue
existing.
Dialectical Journal 41 (Page 168)
‘Hester Prynne was now fully sensible…coult not be other
than malevolent.’
Hester takes full blame for Dimmesdale’s demise. Due to her
oath to Hollingsworth, she felt she betrayed Dimmesdale. In reality,
she never broke her promise to Dimmesdale as to never reveal he was the father
of Pearl so Hester becomes the most powerful character at this
point. She took full blame for their sin and has had to carry the burden.
Dialectical Journal 42 (Page 170)
“May God forgive us both… Thou and I, Hester, never did so!”
Dimmesdale forgives Hester for not telling him about
Chillingsworth, but he should be apologizing for not helping Hester. She should
be the one who is angry at Dimmesdale for the seven long years of not having
anyone except Pearl who loved her and treated her with respect. They come to
terms by stating the Chillingworth is worse than what sin they committed.
Dialectical Journal 43 (Page 172)
‘There is happiness to be enjoyed…..Up and away!’
Dimmesdale finally realizes that his secret sin and split
identity is killing him. He recognizes that Hester has become the stronger
person and begs her to tell him what to do. Her solution is to run away to save
himself. This is not the needed confession which will ease his soul but a band
aide to run away from the secrets that haunt him.
Dialectical Journal 44 (Page 184)
“Hester next gather up the heavy tresses….now that she is
sad.”
Pearl forces Hester back into her role of the woman with the
scarlet letter. Pearl isn’t willing to accept her father yet until
he publicly accepts her. She wants honesty and openness from both her mother
and father.
Dialectical Journal 45 (Page 195)
‘The physician knew then, that, in the minister’s regard...as he took his leave.”
Dimmensdale and Chillingworth are still playing games. Chillingsworth has been devoured by revenge and hate and is no longer human. Dimmesdale pretends that the doctor is good and has healed him when in fact Chillingworth’s lies and secrets have turned him into the devil.
‘The physician knew then, that, in the minister’s regard...as he took his leave.”
Dimmensdale and Chillingworth are still playing games. Chillingsworth has been devoured by revenge and hate and is no longer human. Dimmesdale pretends that the doctor is good and has healed him when in fact Chillingworth’s lies and secrets have turned him into the devil.
Dialectical Journal 46 (Page 200)
“Be quiet, Pearl! Thou understandest not these things, said her mother.”
Hester quiets Pearl and tells her not to acknowledge Dimmesdade because she still believes she needs to keep their love secret in order to preserve it. This logic is the same that lead her to lying about the sin in the first place. Their love is based on deception. Pearl is really the only one who understands their love because she is unconstrained by the rules of Puritanism
“Be quiet, Pearl! Thou understandest not these things, said her mother.”
Hester quiets Pearl and tells her not to acknowledge Dimmesdade because she still believes she needs to keep their love secret in order to preserve it. This logic is the same that lead her to lying about the sin in the first place. Their love is based on deception. Pearl is really the only one who understands their love because she is unconstrained by the rules of Puritanism
Dialectical Journal 47 (Page 224)
“Nothing was more remarkable than the change……..transmuted
into golden love.”
Chillingsworth withers away because he nothing to hate
anymore. The secret is out in the open. Hester and Dimmesdale were bound
together by mutual sin, which was more powerful than a ceremony of marriage. He
cannot do anything to hurt Hester anymore. There is only one person left in her
life she truly loves; Pearl. Pearl has always seen the real identity of
Chillingsworth and is beyond his reaches of evil
Dialectical Journal 48 (Page 227)
‘But there was a more real life for…..life successful to such
an end!’
The scarlet letter is no longer a badge of shame. She
returns and resumes wearing the scarlet letter because her past is part of her
identity. It cannot be erased because the townspeople have decided it is
shameful. She has created a life, which the scarlet letter has come to
symbolize as an adversity to overcome and of knowledge gained rather than a
sign of failure and disapproval. She is an example of redemption and
self-empowerment.
Dialectical Journal 49 (Page 228)
‘So said Hester Prynne…. Light gloomier than the shadow’
Hester and Dimmesdale are followed to their grave by the Puritan’s judgment. They are laid to rest together but separate enough so even in eternity they cannot be together. The reddish A is red and its light stands out more than the black background. This symbol has become confusing and ambiguous. At the end Hester was somewhat respected, but the letter even in death marks her guilty of a sin of the Puritan society.
‘So said Hester Prynne…. Light gloomier than the shadow’
Hester and Dimmesdale are followed to their grave by the Puritan’s judgment. They are laid to rest together but separate enough so even in eternity they cannot be together. The reddish A is red and its light stands out more than the black background. This symbol has become confusing and ambiguous. At the end Hester was somewhat respected, but the letter even in death marks her guilty of a sin of the Puritan society.
Dialectical Journal 50 (Page 169)
“That old man…he was my husband!”
Hester confesses to Dimmesdale
that Chillingworth is her husband. Dimmesdale realizes why Chillingworth has
been torturing him, and falls to his knees.
Dialectical Journal 51 (Page 169)
“Woman, woman, thou art
accountable for this! I cannot forgive thee!”
Dimmesdale is blaming Hester for
not telling him that Chillingworth was her husband. He thinks it’s her fault
that he has been suffering at the hands of her previous love. This is ironic
because they are equally responsible for the sin that happened years before
their encounter.
Dialectical Journal 52 (Page 171)
“Think for me, Hester! Thou art
strong. Resolve for me!”
He was willing to have relations
as a minister, and should be the one leading the flock. Instead, The weak
Dimmesdale is expecting Hester, who has been persecuted for seven years, to
solve his problems with Chillingworth.
Dialectical Journal 53 (Page 172)
“Then there is the broad pathway
of the sea!”
This refers to Moses parting the
red sea and leading his people to the promise land. Hester wants to take
Dimmesdale and go back to a remote area where no one would ever know them.
Dialectical Journal 54 (Page 185)
“Doth he love us?” said Pearl,
looking up with acute intelligence into her mother’s face. “Will he go back
with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town?”
Pearl knows that Dimmesdale is her
father and, in her own way, is forcing the issue that he be held accountable
for her existence, as well as the letter on her mother’s breast.
Dialectical Journal 55 (Page 185)
“The minister – painfully
embarrassed, but… and the purpose is soon to be fulfilled.”
Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, and Pearl
races to the brook and races off. Dimmesdale is not ready to admit that he is
the father, and until he acknowledges Pearl as his daughter, Pearl doesn’t want
to have anything to do with him.
