Scarlet Letter Analysis 2

The Governor’s Hall
“On the supposition that Pearl, as already hinted, was of demon origin, these good people not unreasonably argued that a Christian interest in the mother’s soul required them to remove such a stumbling-block from her path. If the child, on the other hand, were really capable of moral and religious growth, and possessed the elements of ultimate salvation, then, surely, it would enjoy all the fairer prospect of these advantages by being transferred to wiser and better guardianship than Hester Prynne’s ” (Hawthorne 81).
Analysis— after puritans have judged and humiliate her, they are now consigned about the warfare of Hester and Pearl. This is an act of Puritan hypocrisy. It also tells of their life style. They believe that they can purify people’s life and make it better so that God can find favor in the sight of the person. Pearl is being condemned because they know that her mother is the sinner, but will still condemn her if they find out that she is the daughter of a religious man. In this chapter, Hawthorne talks about the hypocrisies of the Puritan society.


The Elf Child and the Minister
“I must tarry at home keep watch over my little Pearl, had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest and signed my name in the Black Man’s book” (Hawthorne 93).
Analysis- Here again the black man’s book refers to the book of the devil and Prynne has being asked to join the club that Mistress Hibbins has associated with herself. Prynne declines the offer saying that she has to take care of Pearl means that Pearl has saved her mother from another of the black man’s temptation, The first being the sin of adultery. An Anomaly seen in this text also is that, the society abandons Hester Prynne after they learnt of her sin and almost took her daughter away from her saying she was a demon, but yet the Miss Hibbins is being protected by the law even when it is publicly known that she goes to a witch gathering. Hawthorns imply that the ranking of one’s statue or the family in which they come from matters in the society of the puritans.
The Leech
“This purpose once effected, new interests would immediately spring up, and likewise a new purpose; dark, it is true, if not guilty, but of force enough to engage the full strength of his faculties” (Hawthorne 95).
“Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face, which they had not previously noticed, and which grew still the more obvious to sight, the oftener they looked upon him… the fire in his laboratory had been brought from the lower regions, and was fed with infernal fuel; …his visage was getting sooty with the smoke” (Hawthorne 101).
Analysis- Hawthorne reveals that Mr. Dimmesdale hides a secret and it is causing him pain by which he holds his chest, just as Prynne chest is marked with the letter A. Roger Chillingworth is up for revenge which is a sin hence his changing from good to bad as seen by the public. They both are keeping secrets; they both suffer inner and physical pain. In keeping secrets to hide their sins and conform to social pressure, they cause their bodies, their natures, to wither and die. Chillingworth’s motive is not to help the minister but to divulge his deepest secret; his motive is disastrous and he has already committed two sins which are planning evil thoughts and lying. The devil wants to destroy and kill so does Chillingworth towards Mr. Dimmesdale linking to being called the Black Man. What is really interesting is that at this scene Hawthorne puts the two worst sinners in the same room, sin feeding on sin and as a result, instead of being heal, one is dying and the other is being linked to the devil.
The Leech and his Patient
“Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!” (Hawthorne 107).
Analysis- Once again Chillingworth is being referred to as the black man who publicizes his motive. Pearl also is seen to be in favor with God as she said that the Black Man can not touch her but it can touch her mother, she has again protected her mother the devil’s harm’s way. In the other hand, Chillingworth had gotten hold of the minister and will make him suffer. This can be tried back to when Chillingworth visited Hester in her cell. She asked him if he hath come for her soul and he said no, but for another’s soul which would be the heart of his maliciousness. He now fulfills this evil promise towards the reverend: even the townspeople now regard him as the Devil come to tempt and torment their righteous reverend.
The Interior of a Heart
“I, who have laid the hand of baptism upon your children,—I, who have breathed the parting prayer over your dying friends, to whom the Amen sounded faintly from a world which they had quitted,—I, your pastor, whom you so reverence and trust, am utterly a pollution and a lie!” (Hawthorne 114).
Analysis- Mr. Dimmesdale had become confused in cycle of abomination (sin of adultery and lying). He is a hypocrite because preaches to his congregation about sin as yet he has not confess his own sin, but let Hester continue to take the blame. As he preaches about sin, the puritans are fast to condemn a sinner, but they cannot identify one. Mr. Dimmesdale does not have the heart to confess what he has done and the only want for him to let it out is to preach about it in the church. He constantly punishes himself physically and emotionally, meaning that he has let his secret bring him down spiritually and physically. This has also led him to doubts and self- hatred (whipping and punishing himself). The secret that he kept from everyone to conserve his reputation is weaken him and making him a false preacher, it is also tormenting him.
The Minister’s Virgil
“the minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there was the appearance of an immense letter,-- the letter A­­­­­­­­­—marked out in line of dull red light” “come good sir my friend, I pray you, let me lead you home” (Hawthorne 123-124).
Analysis- It is clear that both Hester and Mr. Dimmesdale share the same sin because he goes to confess his sin privately where Hester has being humiliated publicly. Hawthorne use of nature (God) revealing the letter A and red light out of the sky in enough to gather evidence that Mr. Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl and has also committed the sin of adultery. This scene can be linked to the bible when John the Baptist Baptized Jesus, then there was a light that shined upon him and the dove which came from heaven. God was celebrating his son in that scene. Therefore, in this scene, nature is telling Mr. Dimmesdale to celebrate the scarlet letter just as Hester Prynne did earlier; she was proud (on the outside) and embraced it because it was her fault, but instead he decided to follow the man who has being linked as the Black man. Mr. Dimmesdale has therefore accepted and chosen sin over repentance, and the truth.
Another View of Hester
“It was due in part to all these causes, but still more to something else, that there seemed to be no longer anything in Hester’s face for Love to dwell upon; nothing in Hester’s form, though majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace; nothing in Hester’s bosom, to make it ever again the pillow of Affection” (Hawthorne 128).
Analysis- The public cannot accept Hester even though she had change because of their belief in predestination, she will always be a sinner and that was her identity. By withholding forgiveness, Puritanism makes it pointless for sinners to stop sinning. Also she is strike by Mr. Dimmesdale oddly behavior, should she help the man who caused her the burden of caring the letter and break the promise that she made to Chillingworth. She does not see the value of living if she cannot change he corrupt way in society.