Intrepid contributor Ramsey is reading The Scarlet Letter and blogging about it. To catch up on past posts, go here!
Chapter 17 – The Pastor and His Parishioner
Hester calls out to Dimmesdale to get his attention. (That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we in the writing-jokey-plot-summaries-of-classical-literature-industry call “picking up right where you left off.”) Dimmesdale is shocked because he is not used to people calling his name in the middle of a wooded area.
As you may be able to tell from my earlier plot summaries, I love a lot of the language used in this book, and this chapter gives us another doozy. When Dimmesdale realizes that Hester is calling out to him, he replies: “Art thou in life?” or, to translate, “Hester? You’re still alive?” That is a fantastic way to greet someone. I’m going to start assuming that everyone is dead when I can’t see them, just so I can start using that phrase.
Dimmesdale and Hester talk and kind of catch up. Unfortunately for these two, “catch up” means “talk about how miserable they feel living with the constant burden of sin.” The pastor in particular is especially broken up; he talks about how anguished he feels because of what he has done. Keep in mind that seven years have passed since Pearl was born and the whole incident took place. This guy really has a hard time letting things go. (Although, in his defense, they didn’t have TV back then, so all he really can do is sit around and think. Poor man.)
Hester takes this opportunity to tell the reverend the truth about being married to Roger Chillingworth. Dimmesdale is shocked, but I bet it’s probably less about finding out the truth and more about realizing that she is married to the most terrible person in the world. In what is actually kind of a tender moment, Hester then begs the reverend to forgive her for not telling him earlier.
Initially, this revelation causes “a dark transfiguration” in Dimmesdale, and he begins to blame her for all of his suffering. However, once Prynne turns on the waterworks and pulls him towards the scarlet letter on her chest, he forgives her.
The two of them talk about just how terrible Chillingworth is. Dimmesdale says that he himself is not as terrible a sinner as Chillingworth. Think about what this means! We already know how upset Dimmesdale is with himself. He’s so convinced he's a horrible sinner that he's been starving himself and moping around town to the point where his parishioners have noticed and are praying for his health. If he thinks Chillingworth should sufffer even more than he has, imagine what kind of punishment he'd cook up if he was in charge. The doc would have to wear an entire scarlet alphabet! (I wish that I could tell you that I hadn’t been trying to squeeze that joke in for the past 16 chapters, but I would be lying if I said that.)
Worried that Chillingworth will reveal the true nature of their relationship, Scarlet and the rev make a plan to get out of town with Pearl and stowaway on a ship to England, where they can live together as a family. I know these people didn’t ask for my advice, but just in case, I would like to say that if you’re going to run away from your husband, you may not want to go to your husband’s home country. What’s that? These people lived two hundred years ago? And they’re fictional? Never really existed?
Well, I stand by my advice.
Chapter 18 – A Flood of Sunshine
The title of this chapter is very appropriate, because immediately after you start reading it, you can see that the flood of sunshine has a couple of different meanings.
The first half of this chapter is what I like to call a “Hawthorne Special,” or, to put it another way, “a long section where nothing actually happens. This guy is a terrific writer, but boy, oh boy, he must have been paid by the word.
In the first half of the chapter, we learn that Arthur Dimmesdale is, for the first time in seven years, feeling joy. This decision to move to Europe has energized this couple, and they can’t wait to start over and enjoy their new freedom. Hester, in her excitement, takes the scarlet letter and throws it into the forest. These people are so fickle. Two chapters ago I was making fun of Hester for saying she wanted to wear the “A” for extra credit, and now she’s tossing it away. Doesn’t she realize a raccoon could pick it up and have to suffer the burden of her sins?
Instantly after throwing the scarlet letter away, Hester lets down her hair and smiles. Then, like magic, sunlight (which, if you’ll recall, I emphasized a symbolic—you can thank me when you totally nail that question on the quiz…) shines down on the forest and Hester.
She talks to the reverend about Pearl. She’s very excited that the girl will be able to know her father. She describes Pearl as “a strange child.” I guess that’s fair, but she doesn’t really let him know what he’s in for if he decides to stick around. This brat is more than strange, she is straight-up, 100% crazy cakes and Hester knows it.
Hester then calls for Pearl, who approaches very slowly…
To be continued! Will Pearl walk over to Hester and Dimmesdale? (yes) Will she act kind of weird? (yes) Did a raccoon pick up that scarlet letter like I suggested? (only time will tell!)
You will find all of Ramsey's Scarlet Letter posts collected here.
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