Ramsey is reading The Scarlet Letter and blogging about his experiences. Catch up on past posts here.
Chapter 21 – The New England Holiday
I knew from the last chapter that there was a state holiday coming up, but I keep thinking Hawthorne is using “holiday” in the British sense of “vacation.” Maybe it’s all the talk of Dimmesdale and Hester’s European Vacation. Hang on—that sounds like an awesome movie title.
But anyway, back to things I am not making up: there is a public gathering in the marketplace, just like at the beginning of the book. Even though this gathering is being held for a positive reason (to celebrate the new governor coming into power), and not to publicly shame someone, I have to imagine Hester freaks out a little bit whenever a lot of people get together in one place in town.
Anybody who’s anybody is at the ceremony. Colonial Boston doesn’t offer much in the way of celebrities, but it does have interesting social groups. Your regular old townsfolk are there, a few Native Americans stop by, and some sailors show up, probably because The Real Housewives of Atlanta hadn't been invented yet, and there's nothing better to do than watch a new governor’s installation in the Puritan town.
As she heads over to the ceremony, young Pearl is just full of questions for her mother. Most importantly, she wants to make Hester feel super uncomfortable, and asks if that weird priest guy is going to hold hands with them like he did in the forest. Wise Hester basically ignores her daughter. She is lost in her thoughts. Oddly enough, for the first time in the book, the rest of the crowd is ignoring her. Maybe that’s the moral of the book! If you just ignore the people around you, then they’ll ignore you. (Note: This is definitely not the moral of the book.)
So, as Hester floats through the crowd, ready to say goodbye to the scarlet letter, the stress, the new governor, the town, and all the jerky kids that threw mud at her, one of the sailors casually drops a bombshell. It turns out the couple is going to have a little company on their trip over to Europe. You see, the ship needed a doctor, and Chillingworth gladly volunteered. Hester looks up and sees the horrible face of Chillingworth. He's standing across from her, smirking at her. If this were some kind of dream sequence in a crappy movie, he’d probably be laughing over creepy organ music.
Chapter 22 – The Procession
The ceremony begins, and all the people in their fancy costumes begin walking through town. I’m going to fast-forward a little bit through the descriptions of everybody, because I want to get to our buddy Reverend Dimmesdale, who is apparently looking quite a bit healthier. Oh! I get it! The moral of the story is if you follow your heart, you’ll better your life! (Note: This is still wrong.)
Even though she saw him in the forest just a few days ago, Pearl at this point cannot recognize Dimmesdale. If you recall, earlier she had trouble recognizing her mother without the scarlet letter on. I’m beginning to think that Pearl isn't just bratty, but also blind.
Mistress Hibbins (you remember, the crazy one) comes over to talk to Hester about Dimmesdale. She says she knows people who serve the devil, and the minister’s “mark” will soon be clear to everybody. She then invites Pearl to go on a witch’s ride with her at some point, since her father is the devil. All in all, she sounds like an awesome babysitter. However, the narrator decides to pause the story for a moment to let the reader know that Mistress Hibbins will be executed as a witch soon.
So all’s well that ends well, right?
Hester goes to listen to Dimmesdale’s sermon. Then Pearl comes on over with a message from the captain of the ship: Chillingworth will make the arrangements for bringing Dimmesdale on board, so Hester should only worry about Pearl. I’m going to guess Chillingworth isn't just being thoughtful. Hester freaks out, understandably, and then realizes that everyone is staring at her.
She's probably used to that by now. Poor Hester.
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