Lundeen1

JuliaLundeen
Mr.Gennaro
APLanguageandComposition
9/26/16

TheScarletLetterEssay
Letter,
As Hester first mounts the scaffold in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet
introducing it as a place of public concern, her life is changed forever she no longer feelsthat
her suffering is hers alone to bear, since it has been offered up to the public eye, and her
demeanor as well shifts from being falsely brave to being accepting of her new life. She no
longer is forced to be the only judge of her actions, but merely to come to terms with the
common judgment, and thatofthereligiousleadersinhertown.Inherpubliccondemnation,she
is freed. Next, Pearls significance on the scaffold is limited to her inability to remember
anything that occurs while she is a symbolofhermotherspassionandfailuretolivewithinthe
Puritan standards, she also shows that passion itself does not need to know from where it
originated, but merely that it exists. Her development began beyond the scaffold, without
necessarily needing that chapter from her parents lives to proceed. It later formed her actions
toward Dimmesdale. Finally, conversely to Hester, Dimmesdale is shackled by his specious
freedom, in that he can technically choose to declare whatever he wants,butisinrealityneither
able nor willing to do so. This later happens when he tries to confess indirectly to his
congregation it was the best he really could do, withoutproperguidancefromanyoneelse:He
had spoken the very truth, and transformed it intotheveriestfalsehood(Ch.11,131).Thisfirst
true inability to reveal his hearts secret tothepublicfromthebalcony istheprimordialinstance
ofhisdeepinternalchaos,whichcontinuestoplayintotheplotthroughoutthenovel.
From Hesters point of view, themidnightvigilofDimmesdaleisincrediblyunexpected
she was out doing her job as a seamstress at night, and walking through the blackness she
discovers her former lover silently condemning himself beforethememoryof acrowd,grasping
at the shreds of sanity. Despite the threat of illness from the night air for both herself and her
young daughter, she climbs the scaffold to join him, realizing how incredibly deteriorated his
mental state has become. This results in a shift in her attentions, later tellingDimmesdaleabout
her marriage to Chillingworth despite his underlying threat to her personal safety should shedo

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so. Pearl, no doubt entirely curious at the age of seven as to who her father is, had entwined
Dimmesdale into her personal fantasy of her beginnings. The scene on the scaffold at midnight
helps her develop any theories she may have had and Dimmesdales refusal to publicly
acknowledge his part in her conception frustrates her (though she does not have all ofthefacts,
only anidea),sinceany possibilityof another humanjoiningtheircircleofisolationwouldlikely
be an incredible adventure for her. Dimmesdale, for his part, is suffering severely trapped
between a need to both remain silent to continue his leadership role and a need to unburden
himself from his horrible secret, he tries to strike a middle ground, as he is unable to choose
between condemning himself and holding the secret within. Before leaving his home for the
scaffold, it is said that he is so far gone that had he once found the power to smile, ...there
would have been no such man (Ch. 11, 133)! This bothdemonstratestheweightheisforcedto
place on seemingly trivialactionsin placeofwordshecannotsay,aswellasprefigureshis death
in the twentythird chapter, before which he gives agenuinesmile.Onceatthescaffold,heisso
tormented he sees no other way out of his situation than somehow being forced into telling his
secret he sees himself possibly staying until people find him there and connect the dots, and
panics as he sees the meteor form the letter A, convincing him that he has been condemned
somehowalready.
Driven to feel entirely responsible for the torment of Dimmesdale, Hester is his support
as he reveals his sin to the public on the day of his Election Day sermon. She holds him up, a
source of his strength, and cradles him as he lies dying. Surely no words were used to describe
her sorrow for a reason, since years of her life had been spent allowing Dimmesdale to fall to
utter pieces, andnowshewouldhave towatchtheculminationofhiscollectiveagonyashedies.
Pearl, a young girl with none but clues of her past, in seeing the ruination of a soul, comes to
terms with her own humanityand roleinsociety,andtowardshermother,too,Pearlserrand as
a messenger of anguish was all fulfilled (Ch. 23, 229). Lastly, Dimmesdale has finally chosen
between keepingthe partofhimselfalivewhoseexistencehecouldjustifythrough hisleadership
duty and his own inability to bring his sin before the public, and unburdening himself of his
massive guilt accumulated through the years. In doing so, he destroys himself, which occurs
because the resulting liftofhispainwasequallythedestructionofthetormentthatwas tofollow
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him everywhere in lifeandifthetormentcouldnolongerfollowhiminlife,hewouldnolonger

beallowedtolivebytheexclusionaryprincipleoftherule.
The role of the scaffold was like that of a canvas: to highlight the important parts of an
idea while keeping the little details present as well. It clearly documented the most significant
points in the main characters lives, as well as portrayed the themes oftheideavs.therealityof
evilandguiltasasourceofsuffering.