Scarlet Letter: 221-235

1) "At this moment, old Roger Chillingworth thrust himself through the crowd,—or, perhaps, so dark, disturbed, and evil, was his look, he rose up out of some nether region,—to snatch back his victim from what he sought to do!" (225).

This is Chillingworth's reaction to what he knows is about to happen. He sees that Dimmesdale is now ready to confess his sin, and so he desperately tries to draw Dimmesdale back into his lies. This is because if Dimmesdale confesses, it is no longer possible for Chillingworth to harm him. Chillingworth was slowly torturing Dimmesdale far beyond the pain of death. He caused the minister both mental and physical anguish. When Dimmesdale confesses and takes his last breath he experiences freedom for the first time in seven years. This freedom is from the guilt of his sin, and from Chillingworth, who can no longer harm a free man.

2) "Pearl kissed his lips. A spell was broken. The great scene of grief, in which the wild infant bore a part, had developed all her sympathies; and as her tears fell upon her father’s cheek, they were the pledge that she would grow up amid human joy and sorrow, nor forever do battle with the world, but be a woman in it. Towards her mother, too, Pearl’s errand as a messenger of anguish was all fulfilled" (229).

This quote links to when Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale were in the forest. When Dimmesdale kissed Pearl there, in private, she was disgusted and washed her face. Pearl often asked her mother why the minister would not stand with them on the scaffold in public, but now he finally is able to. She kisses him and Pearl changes from the strange child that she was into a normal little girl. This is because what needed to be done is done. She was a messenger to both Dimmesdale and Hester. She was a physical sign of their sin. She was a constant reminder of what they had done with the questions she asked both of them. She influenced Dimmesdale into his confession, and she influenced Hester into wearing the scarlet letter. Now that her work is done, she is no longer an evil child of sin, but a normal little girl.

Definitions:

1) "Thus, there had come to the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale—as to most men, in their various spheres, though seldom recognized until they see it far beyond them—an epoch of life more brilliant and full of triumph than any previous one, or than any which could hereafter be" (223).

epoch:–noun -a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc.; the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of anything; a point of time distinguished by a particular event or state of affairs

2) "By bringing me hither, to die this death of triumphant ignominy before the people!" (229).

ignominy:–noun -disgrace; dishonor; public contempt; shameful or dishonorable quality or conduct or an instance of this