This quote relates to the idea of religion in the colonial society. This man admires the fact that sinners are sought out and publicly punished in New England. This shows that the town takes religious offenses very seriously and wishes to torment all who commit them. This is very similar to the colony of Salem in "The Crucible". He also uses the word 'godly' to describe this method of persecuting sinners. This shows that the community believes that this method is what God intended. This is how Salem was lead into its downfall. The government thought they were doing God's will, but they were actually misguided by evil.
Will this society view themselves as doing the work of God by punishing sinners, like in Salem?
2) "What should ail me, to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe? The medicine is potent for good; and were it my child,—yea, mine own, as well as thine!—I could do no better for it"
Chillingworth, the wise and strange physician, says this to Hester after she refuses to give her child the medicine he offers. He calls the child miserable, because it is a symbol of her sin. Both the child and the scarlet letter symbolize her sin, and yet these do not appear as negative or ugly things. She made the scarlet letter beautiful, and her child is innocent, so they do not seem like reasonable symbols of evil. Lots of the citizens are jealous of her beauty, and enraged at the way she crafted the scarlet letter. They expect her to be devastated, but she is beautiful along with the symbols of her sin.
Will Hester's child be cursed because of what she has done?
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