I was a lot more excited about these chapters than all the previous ones before this. I wasn't excited about what was in the chapters, but for the events and the suspense that these chapters built up. after chapter 15 especially, I could tell that something big is about to happen in the story. For me chapter 13 was what indicated a turning point, cause now Hester is not the outcast of the town anymore and people know her for her good deeds as well. I did really like that part because I fell that Hester didn't deserve her punishment and it even was annoying to me when Hester would say she wasn't getting punished enough and that she was meant to be evil. Now that her scrutiny is mostly over there is a lot less about Hester, and more about Chillingworth's and Dimmesdale's secret battle which I find a lot more interesting. Chapter 15 was the most interesting because Hester goes and confronts Chillingworth about Dimmesdale and sees the evilness inside him that some of the townspeople have also noticed which leads me to think that he's up to some plot.
One quote in chapter 13 that I thought was important was when the narrator is describing how the community has pretty much forgotten about Hester's sin because of all the good deeds she's done and they are ready to accept her back as a member of the community. In this point in the story even more time has passed and Pearl is seven. The narrator stated, "It was in part due to all these causes, but still more to something else, that there seemed to be no longer anything in Hester's face for love to dwell upon; nothing in Hester's form, though majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace," (Hawthorne, 148). This illustrates how Hester's outward appearance and her young rebellious inner spirit are becoming even more heavy foils. On the out side, Hester is succumbing to anne but that is not what the towns people notice. They notice that she is not has bright and cheery as she was, although still beautiful. She has started wearing head gear that completely covers her long beautiful hair. Overall she is becoming more modest and not showing anything that separates her from the other women. However, her inner spirit is recovered after being accepted back and now she has the courage to go and stand up to Roger Chillingworth who she hasn't spoken to alone since in the prison. She has the strength to even speak about him and Dimmesdale.
Something that has come up in earlier chapters and comes up again in chapter 15 is what Reverend Dimmesdale has on his chest. Previously, when Chillingworth saw something on Dimmesdale's chest, he know that Dimmesdale had indeed committed a horrible sin when he told the old doctor that he had not. And now, before Hester talks to Chillingworth while he is picking herbs, Pearl brings up that her mothers scarlet letter is the same reason why the minister holds his heart. Pearl said, "'Truly do I!' answered Pearl, looking brightly into her mother's face. 'It is for the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart,'" (Hawthorne, 161). This passage not only demonstrates the unusually things that Pearl at such a young age knows, but tells the reader that whatever is on Dimmesdale's chest that Chillingworth saw and is now after him, was put there (probably by Dimmesdale) for the same reason that Hester wears her scarlet letter. Hester and the reader now know that Dimmesdale's condition is most likely because of the pain he experiences from keeping his sin of adultery in, unlike Hester who is ok because she lets her sin be known and even wears her sin on her breast for all to see.
The reason people still read The Scarlet Letter is that it still is relevant to some of the things going on today. In sports, a named Ray Lewis was accused of murdering two people, one being his wife. Ray Lewis was a star defensive lineman for the Baltimore Raven's, an NFL football team. When the story hit the news it was a huge deal and even though he was never charged with anything, many people believed that he did do it and got away with it which discredited him as a fantastic player. Like Ray Lewis, Hester's reputation was completely discredited for a long time after the townspeople found out about her cheating on her husband. Since Ray Lewis was never arrested he continued to play football but under constant scrutiny. After a couple years, however, people forgot about it and he continued to play well for the rest of his career and will eventually go into the hall of fame. Hester, after her incident was under tremendous pressure like Ray Lewis and also like him, Hester continued to be a model puritan woman while wearing the scarlet letter, she gave to the poor and sewed for people. Now that years have gone by the townspeople forgive her and there was talk of her being able to remove the scarlet letter. file://localhost/Users/Laxer/Desktop/th.jpeg
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