As a result, her husband, working under the alias of Roger Chillingworth, now knows of the sin and seeks to take revenge on the man with whom she defiled their marriage, the man Hester loves dearly. In addition, Hester’s appearance on the scaffold draws the attention of her husband, whom she wronged in committing the act of adultery. Whenever someone lays eyes on her, all he or she sees is the scarlet letter, and the only thing that comes to mind is the day when she stood on the scaffold. She becomes a symbol of sin within the community. From that day forward, the image of Hester standing on the scaffold is ingrained in the minds of the townspeople. The scaffold introduces the people to Hester’s immorality. In doing so, “she will be a living sermon against sin” (44). Hester is forced to stand on the platform with the eyes of the entire community staring at the letter on her chest. To make absolutely certain that no one fails to learn from the sinner’s mistake, a scaffold is set up in the middle of town. The town officials make an example out of Hester, placing shame on her to discourage the rest of the community from committing sin of a similar caliber. The Puritan community in which the story takes place seeks to create a Utopia they would not allow any substantial stain in the purity of the colony to go unnoticed. Consequently, the community punishes her by forcing her to wear a scarlet letter on her chest for the rest of her life. At the beginning of the novel, Hester is known to be an adulteress because of her child. In the case of Hester Prynne, the scaffold is the source of her initial exposure it brings her sin outward and gives it a face. The scaffold acts as a major source of conflict, as it is the reason for significant turmoil, whether internal or external, in the development of each of the three main characters. The novel revolves heavily around this symbol, as all three of the main characters are tied to it in some form or other. By the final chapter, however, the scaffold which the Puritans thought so little of prior to the events of the novel comes to represent something entirely new and different in their minds. The scaffold acted as a method for doing so. In the words of Hawthorne, the strict Puritan law code was set up for the purpose of dragging iniquity out into the sunshine (38). The Puritan community in which the story takes place lives by strong Biblical and legalistic standards with the ultimate goal of establishing a utopian society. The author uses the image of a scaffold in the center of town as a symbol of two contradicting ideas: public shame and freedom. Although one could say that he dies in shame in the eyes of the townspeople, because of his willful public confession, he is actually given a gracious acceptance into Heaven, where he will live with eternal happiness and completely free of any torment or anguish.In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the themes of exposure and justice are prevalent throughout. Finally, in the third scaffold scene, he is publicly and humbly repentant for his sin, liberating not only himself, but also Hester and Pearl. In the first scaffold scene, he is Hester’s two-faced accuser in the second scaffold scene, he displays unbearable bodily and psychological pain. Through the three scaffold scenes, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the increasing mental and physical pain the Reverend Dimmesdale experienced by trying to hide his sin from the townspeople and God Himself. He then dies, knowing that he will be warmly welcomed into God’s Heavenly Kingdom. This is the only moment of pride for Dimmesdale throughout the entire book. At this moment, Dimmesdale confesses to the whole town, pronouncing his guilt but yet, at the same time, was able to salvage his soul.ĭimmesdale is finally able to free himself of all anguish and die with an open conscience. As he nears the scaffold, he calls for Hester and Pearl to help him up the stairs and asks them once again to stand beside him. Immediately after his Election Day sermon, which makes him even more popular among the townspeople, Dimmesdale, leads the procession of people towards the town hall for a banquet. Pearl then asks Dimmesdale if he would stand with them at noontide the next day and he refuses, saying that instead, they will stand together on the great Judgement Day.ĭuring the third and final scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is finally seen as humbly repentant for his and Hester’s sin. There, at Dimmesdale’s request, that they join him on the scaffold where they stand in the darkness, holding each other. Hester and Pearl hear his crying as they are on their way home and go to him. He cries out in physical and mental pain. During the middle of the night, while the townspeople are all asleep, Dimmesdale makes his way to the scaffold, holding a silent vigil.
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