The Scarlet Letter #9

"Wilt thou come across the brook, and own thy mother, now that she has her shame upon her,- now that she is sad?" (190).

Pearl prevented her mother from lifting the burden she bore off her chest. Hester's sin will always remain with her, either in the form of Pearl or the scarlet letter. The problem with this is that both Pearl and the scarlet letter go hand-in-hand. If the scarlet letter is gone, Pearl will not find the same comfort she found in her mother when it had been present. This can be seen during the brook incident. The scarlet letter was also "the first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware [of]" (88). Pearl only chose to come to her mother once the scarlet letter was put back in its rightful place. In joy, Pearl even "put up her mouth, and kissed the scarlet letter" (190). Pearl's happiness seems to revolve around her mother's misery. Dimmesdale also uneasily mentions to Hester that the "brook is the boundary between two worlds, and that [Hester] canst never meet [...] Pearl again" (188). Pearl was standing on the other side of the brook, while the scarlet letter was floating in it. The boundary of the two worlds can be seen through Hester's happiness without Pearl and the scarlet letter and her transformation back to her cheerless self once Pearl comes back. The only way Hester can free herself from her burden is to let go of the two things that hold it down and move on to a new world, leaving the two tokens of shame behind by the boundary of the brook.


"Another man had reached out of the forest: a wiser one; with a knowledge of hidden mysteries which the simplicity of the former never could have reached" (200).

Dimmesdale's new attitude is the feeling of freedom. He constrained himself in society by keeping his burdens within him, but the forest allowed him to meet with Hester and let out his pain. The forest symbolizes the freedom that society does not offer. In The Crucible, everybody is banned from going into the woods, yet this is where the true colors of some of the characters are revealed. Abigail and her followers danced around naked, while Tituba chanted rituals. This would never happen in the town itself. In the woods, the characters found freedom to act the way they did. Likewise, the forest in The Scarlet Letter opened Dimmesdale to the capability of the power he holds on the people. He realizes that he has the ability to "blight all the field of innocence" (197) from his devout followers. Before, he never thought to commit such heathenish deeds like ruining a young woman's purity. Dimmesdale changed into a new person. Time will tell whether this transformation will not be torn down by Chillingworth.