Reading Response #4

My fourth and final response to the Scarlet Letter is going to be about an event that takes place within the last few chapters of the book. Hester meets with Master Dimmesdale in the forest one day and they plan to go away and get away from the town. This puts Arthur Dimmesdale in quite a different state, he seems to be doing a lot better than what he had been previously and when he gets back to his study he ends up refusing the medicine that Roger Chillingworth offered him "The physician knew then, that in the minister's regard, he was no longer a trusted friend, but his bitterest enemy" (Hawthorne, 204). So Roger finally figures out that Arthur knows who he really is, but neither of them decide to directly confront it with one another. Everyone noticed the difference in master Dimmesdale, ""There was no feebleness of step, as at other times; his frame was not bent; nor did his hand rest ominously upon his heart. Yet, if the clergyman were rightly viewed, his strength seemed not of the body....so abstracted was his look, it might be questioned whether Mr. Dimmesdale even heard the music [of the procession]." (Hawthorne, 217-218). He is finally feeling alright and this could be because he is finally getting away from the town, after his sermon they were to take off to another place, he would be away from the town and this way maybe he could relax a little and shake off some of the guilt that he felt every day. After he comes out from his sermon he is back to looking like his old self again though, "The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on his cheek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelessly among the late-decaying embers. It seemed hardly the face of a man alive, with such a deathlike hue; it was hardly a man with life in him that tottered on his path so nervelessly, yet tottered, and did not fall!" (Hawthorne, 228). At this point he does something drastic which changes the outlooks of so many people. He went over to the scaffold and reached out for Hester and Pearl's hand. He even reveals the flesh which carried his scarlet letter, the one in which was carved into his skin. He asked Pearl to kiss him on the cheek and he says goodbye to Hester and he passes away. Of course this had the townspeople up in arms and there were many opinions which people had about what really happened and what was true. Hester did move away, but she did return to her cottage in that same town, without Pearl. This might have been because such a huge part of her life was here, the scarlet letter she wore for a lot of her life became her identity, and it kept her connected with her lover, even though it wasn't in the best way. The biggest part about her return though, was that she started to help other women in the community. She learned from her mistake and was tortured for it for years upon years, but now she can help other women, who may have sinned, through their problems in life and make sure that they know that good things can come out of things that might not be so good in the beginning and that you can learn many things about life and yourself from each of these problems. "Hester comforted and counselled them as best she might. She assured them, too, of her firm belief, that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven's own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness." (Hawthorne, 239). So, although the experience of having to wear the scarlet letter was torture for Hester she became an extremely independent, smart, and caring woman because of it. That letter helped her grow and with the death of Arthur Dimmesdale she grew even more, she began to help all the other people with similar problems. Arthur Dimmesdale made a huge impact on Hester's life, first with the child, but also with her outlook on many things. When Hester died "a new grave was delved, near an old and sunken one, in that burial-ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." (Hawthorne, 239). Hester and Arthur would never fully be together and they never fully were together in life, but in both situations they would never fully be apart.