|
Chapter XV: "Hester And Pearl" Hester declares that she hates Chillingworth, for he has done her more wrong than she has done him. She calls Pearl to her, noting that Pearl has made a green letter "A" very much like her mother's scarlet letter. For the rest of the day and part of the following morning Hester is pestered by the questions of Pearl concerning the meaning of the scarlet letter. The child also asks why the minister keeps his hand over his heart. As Chillingworth leaves Hester at the edge of the sea, she has unhappy and evil thoughts about him. She wonders if a circle of shadow moves along around him as he gathers his herbs. She says bitterly: "I hate the man!" She tries to stop herself from thinking further about her dislike of Chillingworth. She remembers her life with him nine years ago in Europe. Yet every memory that at one time might have been happy now seems to be ugly and sad. She wonders how she could have been persuaded to marry him. Then she declares aloud: "He betrayed me!" He has done me worse wrong that I did him!" She is thinking of the fact that she, an innocent young woman, married an elderly scholar with whom she had very little in common. Hester herself feels no sorrow for Chillingworth's misery. All this time, little Pearl is keeping herself busy at the edge of the water. She flirts with herself in the water-mirror. She makes boats out of birch bark. She captures tiny sea creatures stranded on the shore. She throws up white foam into the air, chasing after it as the breeze blows it here and there. Finally, she picks up tiny pebbles and throws them at beach birds. She believes she has broken the wing of one of the creatures. Then she settles down to gather seaweed to make herself look like a mermaid. Using eel-grass she forms a bright green "A". Hester comes on the scene and sees her child with a green "A" on her breast. She asks the child if she has any idea why her mother is wearing the scarlet letter. Pearl replies: "It's for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart!" She adds that the old man Hester has been talking with (Chillingworth) will know why the minister does this. For a moment Hester thinks she may be able to tell Pearl why she does wear the letter on her bosom, but she finally decides she cannot inform the child. She says that she knows little of the minister's heart and that she wears the scarlet letter "for the sake of its gold-thread." This is the first time in seven years that Hester has suggested that the scarlet letter does not represent adultery. As a part of her penance, she has accepted freely the meaning given to the letter by the authorities. During the evening, and just before Pearl goes to bed, Pearl questions her mother about the meaning of the scarlet letter. In the morning she repeats the question - "Why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?" The following things take place in this chapter:
Hester prepares to meet Dimmesdale. Accompanied by Pearl, she walks in the forest and discusses with the child the Black Man. Pearl stays near the edge of a brook and plays in the water, while Hester gazes at Dimmesdale walking along with his hand over his heart. For a few days after her talk with Chillingworth Hester tries to meet immesdale accidentally on one of his solitary walks. Never do their paths seem to cross. Finally she hears that he has gone to visit the Apostle Eliot, who is in the forest among the Indians whom he had converted to Christianity. Hester takes this opportunity to meet him. She and Pearl walk to the forest. The sunlight dances to and fro among the trees, once in a while shining on little Pearl - but never shining on Hester. Pearl tells her mother that the sunlight "will not flee" from her because she wears nothing on her bosom yet. Hester tells her that she hopes the child will never wear such an ornament on her breast. Innocently, Pearl asks if the letter will not "come of its own accord" when she is a grown woman. Her mother answers her by sending her to play in the sunshine. Hester approaches the child, and as she nears the circle of light the sunshine vanishes. Pearl then asks her mother to tell her a story about the Black Man. She inquires whether or not her mother had ever met the famous Black Man. Hester inquires how the child knows about the Black Man. It seems that, when Hester was watching near a sickbed in a neighboring house the previous evening, an old woman talked about the Black Man and mentioned that many people had "written in his book." Mistress Hibbins was one of the persons said to have written in the Black Man's evil volume. The old woman the previous night also said (reports the child) that the scarlet letter is the Black Man's mark on Hester. The child also reports that Hester is said to meet the evil one in the forest at night. Hester denies having left the child alone and tells her that she had met the Black Man once in her lifetime. She quietly says: "This scarlet letter is his mark!" All this time the mother and child have been following the bank of a stream. Pearl speaks to the stream, asking why its voice is so very sad. The mother tells Pearl she hears a footstep on the path. She wishes Pearl to play in that place while she goes to speak with the new arrival. Pearl again asks her mother about the Black Man and suggests that the evil one has placed a mark on the minister's chest. She asks why the Reverend Dimmesdale does not wear "his mark" on the outside (on his clothing), as Hester does. Pearl wanders along listening to the babbling of the stream. Hester, remaining in the shadows cast by the trees, watches Dimmesdale come toward her along the forest path. She notes his feeble appearance. He looks aimless, as if he were truly ready to die and be finished with life. He keeps his hand over his heart. In this connecting chapter the following things happen:
Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale meet in the forest and discuss some of the things that have been bothering them for the last seven years. This is the first time in the book that these main characters frankly discuss their situation. They decide to leave the colony together. When Hester first speaks to Dimmesdale in the forest he is very surprised, for he is not quite sure that a human being is talking to him. Hester's somber clothing and the heavy foliage cause her to be seen with difficulty. The two lovers address each other wonderingly - almost as if each doubted that the other lived. In one way, each seems to be a "ghost" to the other. As one looks into the face of the other, he sees mirrored some of his own sorrow. Arthur touches Hester's hand. This, at least, makes them feel they are living creatures in the same world. They sit on a heap of moss and talk in general terms about the weather and each other's health. Gradually, they approach the topic on the mind of each, that is, the effect of their sin on their present happiness. He tells her that he has no peace-he has "nothing but despair." He explains that if he were a man without conscience, filled with "coarse and brutal instincts," he would have peace at the moment. He summarizes his position by pitifully saying: "Hester, I am most miserable!" Hester points out to him that the people "reverence" him and that he does much good among the members of his congregation. He answers that he looks inward at himself and sees the "black reality" which the people are admiring. He says there is great "contrast" between what he seems and what he is. Hester tells him that his "good works" have helped prove his repentance - that he should have peace because of them. He says this is not so. He tells Hester that she wears the scarlet letter "openly" upon her bosom. His letter "burns in secret" He admits that he is greatly relieved to be able to look into the eyes of a person (Hester) who sees him for what he is. Hee wishes he had one friend (or one enemy) to whom he could daily reveal himself as a sinner. Hester tells him she could be the friend: then, she tells him that he has an enemy who lives under the same roof as he. The minister clutches at his heart and is speechless for awhile. Now Hester realizes how much harm she is responsible for, because she has not told him of the constant presence of his enemy. She suddenly realizes that Chillingworth's prodding could very easily push the suffering minister toward insanity. Hester realizes that she still loves Arthur. The truth dawns upon her. The loss of Dimmesdale's reputation – even death itself - would be better than the living torment that the unhappy minister is in at the moment. She tells him that she has been truthful about all things, except for revealing Chillingworth's identity to him. Then she says: "That old man - the physician . . . he was my husband!" Dimmesdale throws Hester a black, fierce frown. Then he sinks to the ground and buries his face in his hands. He says that he should have known this, for he has found the sight of Chillingworth distasteful. He says:: "Woman . . . I cannot forgive thee!" Hester cries: "Thou shalt forgive me!" Then tenderly she throws her arms about him and caresses him. Finally, he says that he forgives her. Dimmesdale then says that there is one sin worse than his sin (of hypocrisy). That sin is the vengefulness of Chillingworth. Then the unhappy minister explains why Chillingworth is a very great sinner. It is because "he has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart." He refers to the old physician's probing into his own heart. The two sit side by side, hand in hand, gazing at each other. All at once a thought crosses his mind. He realizes that Chillingworth knows Hester's "purpose to reveal" his real identity. (Chillingworth will know that Dimmesdale distrusts him.) The minister wonders if the fiendish old man will keep this a secret. Hester says that she thinks he will but that he will find other means of annoying Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is completely frustrated and just about decides to give up hope completely. He asks Hester to help him. Hester tells him that he does not need to stay in Boston. He can go into the wilderness, or he can go back to England-or perhaps some other part of Europe. Dimmesdale says that he is "powerless to go." Hester says he must "begin all anew!" She even suggests that he might change his name and build a proud reputation under some other name. He answers that he has "not the strength of courage left" to go into the "wide, strange, difficult world, alone." She whispers "Thou shalt not go alone." The following things happen in this chapter:
Hester convinces Arthur that they should leave Boston together. Pearl is called over to meet the minister. Hester for seven long years had been looking at life around her from the point of view of a spectator. Dimmesdale, as a leading clergyman of Boston, looks at the same life that Hester views, but hhe is forced by the prejudice of the church to evaluate situations according to standard patterns of behavior. Hester, in a way, has freed herself by being solitary. On the other hand, Dimmesdale has become a prisoner of society. At first, Dimmesdale feels he should not go away from Boston, but finally he changes his mind and decides that he might enjoy a "better life" with Hester somewhere else. To his own surprise he feels a sudden joy. He wonders why this decision has not been arrived at sooner. Hester tells him not to look back. Then she undoes the clasp fastening the scarlet letter to her bosom, and throws the symbol of shame on top of a pile of withered leaves. The letter almost falls into a small stream. Just as Dimmesdale immediately found happiness when he made the decision to go away with Hester, so does Hester find great relief by removing from her bosom the symbol of adultery. Impulsively, she takes off her cap and lets her long, dark hair fall around her shoulders. She smiles tenderly. Her beauty reappears. Then, the sunshine starts to fill the forest around the two happy people. It would seem as if these two have the sympathy and approval of nature. At this point, Hester is reminded of little Pearl and tells Arthur that he must see her now with his new outlook. The minister is afraid that she will shrink away from him. Hester calls to Pearl who is standing some distance away in the forest. The child starts slowly toward the mother. The little creatures of the forest do not seem to fear her. A partridge, a pigeon, a squirrel, a fox - and even a wolf: all look at her and show no fear. Possibly these wild creatures recognize a "wildness in the human child" very much like their own. Pearl has gathered flowers. She walks very slowly towards her mother, for she sees Arthur Dimmesdale. The following things happen in this chapter:
Hester calls to Pearl, telling the child to join the minister and her. Pearl hesitates for a long time, staring curiously at her mother. Finally, Hester realizes that Pearl is upset because the scarlet letter has been removed from her mother's bosom. The child grows angry, Hester replaces the scarlet letter, and the child joins her parents. As Hester and Arthur watch Pearl while she is approaching, Hester mentions the fact that Pearl has inherited from Dimmesdale his "brow." Dimmesdale claims that he sees his own features in her face-in fact, he has been afraid that "the world might see them." Hester and Dimmesdale are united in Pearl. She is a "symbol" of their love. The mother asks the father not to excite the child when he greets her. Hester feells that finally the child wil love its father. Dimmesdale reminds Hester that he is not at his best with children. He does remember, however, Pearl's caressing his hand in Governor Bellingham's hall. Pearl stands at the edge of a brook, silently gazing at the waiting pair, and her reflection in the water is a thing of beauty. In some ways, Hester feels herself separated from the child. The mother encourages the child to come to her, but the child does not respond to her. All at once, Dimmesdale places his hand over his heart. Then, Pearl stretches out her hand and points with her small forefinger at her mother's breast. (The water-mirror exactly reproduces this scene - a young child, decorated by flowers, standing in a ray of sunlight and pointing her forefinger toward some distant object.) Hester again invites the child to come nearer. Pearl points. She frowns. She stamps her foot. She screams. All this time, Pearl's reflection is seen in the brook. (It is almost as if there were two children excited about something.) Then, Hester realizes what is the matter. She says: "Pearl misses something which she has always seen me wear." Upset, the minister asks Hester to do something to quiet the child. He adds, "if thou lovest me." (Seldom has Dimmesdale allowed himself to be so affectionate in speech.) Hester tells the child to bring the
scarlet letter to her. The child refuses. Then Hester takes up the letter
and fastens it again to her bosom. She follows this by confining all of
her hair beneath her cap. All at once her feminine warmness disappears.
She is again the same somber Hester that she was earlier in the day. Then,
the child comes to her mother, kisses her and even kisses the scarlet letter.
The mother and child discuss the minister. Pearl wonders if Dimmesdale
will return with them to the town, "hand in hand." Hester says he will
not at this time but eventually the three of them will
Notice the following points in this chapter:
Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave the colony on the fourth day following their conversation in the forest. When Dimmesdale returns to the town after talking with Hester, he meets five people (one at a time) and one group of people. He is tempted to say shocking things to them. When he arrives at his dwelling, he chats with Chillingworth, informing him that he will need no more of his medicine. Then, he spends the entire night writing an inspired Election Day Sermon. At first, when Dimmesdale leaves Hester and Pearl in the forest, he cannot be sure that what has recently happened is really true. He thinks that perhaps he has been dreaming, but the sight of Hester and Pearl reminds him that he can take hope for the future. Arthur and Hester plan to go to the Old World. They plan to set sail on a vessel which has recently arrived from the Spanish Main. Their first destination will be Bristol, England. Through her nursing Hester has come to know the captain and some of the crew. Dimmesdale is happy that they will leave on the fourth day, for on the third day he is "to preach the Election Sermon." Excited, and filled with energy, Dimmesdale hurries back to town. Everything he sees looks different to him now, after his talk with Hester. This is because he himself has changed. Suddenly he has impulses to do strange or wicked things.
Chillingworth asks if he might use his medical powers to help make Dimmesdale "strong and vigorous" in preparation for the delivery of the Election Sermon on the next day. He adds that the people are afraid that with the arrival of another year they may find their minister gone. With double meaning again the minister says, "yea, to another world." (Chillingworth does not realize at this time that Dimmesdale plans to go to "another world" - the Old World.) After Chillingworth leaves, Dimmesdale eats a hearty meal. Then he flings into the fire the Election Sermon he had already begun. With great "thought and emotion," he composes an inspired sermon. When dawn arrives, he is still writing. The following things happen in this chapter:
|