Scarlet Letter
...t Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father. In the third and final scaffold scene Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the community during the Election Sermon. When he finally confesses his secret sin he is so relieved he collapses and dies. Hester feels very alone and relieved in this scene. For the first time she was going to have someone to “stand” with and Dimmesdale leaves her, but she is relieved that everyone knows the truth. Pearl is contented by the fact that Dimmesdale finally stands with them on the scaffold. Roger Chillingworth is anguished because with Dimmesdale’s death dies Chillingworth’s reason for living: revenge. 2. The scarlet letter symbolizes adultery in its initial form. At the end of the novel the Puritans begin to see its meaning as “able” rather than “adultery.” The change in the story is brought about by Hester. She carries herself with dignity and makes a modest, yet respectable life for Pearl and herself. She becomes an involved member of the community by becoming a seamstress for the people. The scarlet letter is shown in many different ways in the book. It is shown in the cloth letter that Hester wears upon her bosom. It is also show etched onto Dimmesdale’s chest. One explanation that the people have for this is that it is “awful symbol was the effect of the ever-active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost heart outwardly” ( 269). In one scene it also appeared in the seaweed. The letter is also said to have appeared in the sky the night Dimmesdale confessed on the scaffold. One explanation for A is that it is made by a meteor shower. A fifth way the letter was shown in the story was through Pearl. Pearl was the living embodiment of the scarlet letter. 3. The novel The Scarlet Letter is about sin and its affect on people. There are two major sins committed in this story: adultery and revenge. After Hester and Dimmesdale commit adultery their lives, as they once knew them, are over. Hester must deal with public shame. People pass and make rude comments, children stare and point, and she no longer fits into their society. Dimmesdale kept his sin to himself and was slowly killing himself. He would fast and whip himself in hopes of atoning for his sin. And little Pearl could never have the life of a normal Puritan child. Roger Chillingworth commits the sin that Dimmesdale says is “… blacker than my sin” (203). Chillngworth’s sin is revenge. He lied about his identity to find out who Pearl’s father was. When he found out he still kept his identity a secret in order to torture the poor man. Chillingworth was slowly sucking the life out of Dimmesdale. In Chillingworth’s quest to find Pearl’s father he became an evil man. What I infer about the author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s view on Puritan justice is that he believes it to be unfair. Throughout his story he shows their unjust punishments by having Dimmesdale get away with his sin. Hester is punished severely, but because Dimmesdale is a respected ...