Some sort of guilt or madness has taken over Dimmesdale. For some reason, it's impossible for him to be himself. He questions if he wrote his name in the Devil's book when he was in the forest with Hester. Upon his way home he bumped into old Mistress Hibbons:
    “So, reverend Sir, you have made a visit into the forest,” observed the witch-lady, nodding her high head-dress at him. “The next time, I pray you to allow me only a fair warning, and I shall be proud to bear you company. Without taking overmuch upon myself, my good word will go far towards gaining any strange gentleman a fair reception from yonder potentate you wot of!”-Hawthorne
    Mistress Hibbons words scare the Reverend. She's knows he walked into the woods at night. It could lead to further problems in the book. Dimmesdale returns home and Chillingworth confronts him. He sees how pale and nervous the Minister is when he talks to him and knows Dimmesdale is no longer his friend. Suprisingly, he lets Chillingworth make him some medicine, without any suspesion to what might be in it. That night he stayed in his cottage full of books and a warm fireplace, rewriting his sermon. This makes me question if Dimmesdale had given up on his fate. If he doens't care wether he lives or dies. This chapter is mysterious and makes the readers yearn to see what's going to happen next.

    The scene continues in the forest with the sun still shining. Hester is excited to introduce Pearl to Dimmesdale for the firs time as father and daughter. She calls Pearl over and they notice the flowers she placed in her hair that make her seem even more beautiful. Dimmesdale tells Hester that he was worried that the town's people might notice the resemblence between him and his daughter. Pearl refuses to cross the brooke, because she doesn't like her mother with the scarlet letter she had always seen her wear. Hester nervously tries to convince Pearl to cross it but she gives in and puts the scarlet letter back on. Pearl's refusal shows her strange personality. 
    “With these words, she walked to edge of the brook, picked up the scarlet letter, and fastened it again onto her bosom. Just a moment earlier, Hester had spoken hopefully of drowning the letter in the deep sea. But there was a sense of inevitable doom about her now, as though fate itself had returned the deadly symbol to her. She had thrown it off into the universe! She had breathed free for an hour! And now the scarlet misery was glittering once again, right in its old spot! It’s always this way. An evil deed, whether symbolized or not, always takes on the appearance of fate. Hester gathered up the heavy locks of her hair and hid them beneath the cap. Her beauty, the warmth and richness of her womanhood, left her like fading sunshine. A gray shadow seemed to fall on her. It was as though there was a withering spell in the sad letter."-Hawthorne
    For some unexplainable reason, Pearl won't greet her father nicely. Perhaps she's jealous of the attention he is getting from her mother. The sun dissapears once the scarlet letter was replaced upon her bosom and the morbid mood appears again, yet this time it has a sense of mystification.

    Overthrown by joy Dimmesdale accepts the offer. Both become excited for their new life together. Once the merriment sets in, the sun comes out. Finally, it displays it's light upon Hester and she becomes beautiful again. The past seven years had changed her too, but now she was back to her old self. For so many years Hester has been isolated from society and now she finally reacts taking her scarlet letter off and throwing it. She also lets down her long, beautiful hair. Hawthorne make this chapter a typical, cheesy love scene:
     “Taking it from her breast, she threw it among the withered leaves. The mystic symbol landed on the near bank of the stream. Had it flown a little farther, it would have fallen into the water and given the little brook another woe to carry onward. But there lay the embroidered letter, glittering like a lost jewel for some cursed wanderer to pick up. That ill-fated person might then be haunted by strange, guilty spirits; sad emotions; and inexplicable
misfortune.”-Hawthorne
    I personally love the metaphor that Hawthorne used when the scarlett letter was no longer on Hester Prynne. He makes it seem like the letter is cursed and who ever finds it will sense the pain that Hester had been through all throughout this novel. The "A" is an important symbol in this book and Hawthorne continued to make it important with it's goodbye. The theme of this chapter is hope. The two lovers are finally relived of their pain.

    Once Dimmesdale appears, Hester tells Pearl to run along and play. This wil be the second time the Reverend and Hester have ever been alone together. Ofcourse Hawthorne wanted to make it as dramatically, romantic as possible. Hand-in hand they sit on the moss together and start talking about their feelings towards the whole sitution, including the truth about Chillingworth. Dimmesdale was shocked at first, but with Hester's plead he became putty in her hands. They both agree that their sin was bound to happen because it was only human nature. Hester tells Dimmesdale he should leave town with a new identity. His guilt is overwhelming him and living with Chillingworth is only worsening his condition. Being the coward he is, Dimmesdale passes up the offer and decides to remain in Boston. That's when Hester decides to leave town with him, along with their daughter Pearl.   
  "Throw off the name of Arthur Dimmesdale and make yourself another. Let it be a high name, which you can wear without fear or shame. Why remain here one more day, where torments have eaten away at your life? Where troubles have made you too weak to decide and to act? Where misery had left you powerless even to repent? Rise up and leave!"-Hawthorne
    Hester begs for Dimmesdale to leave town. She feels guilty for making him feel guilty. There's nothing left for him here because his guilt is affecting his acitons. She tells him to find a new name and start a new life. This awakens Dimmesdale, yet he won't start the journey alone. This chapter really shows Dimmesdale's weakness.  Hawthorne yet again goes on with metaphorical descriptions of the dark and dreary scenery. It represents the feelings of both of the characters.

        Hester decides to confess to Dimmesdale in the woods before he leaves town. Upon the walk Pearl tells her mother:
     “Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!”-Hawthorne
    Hawthorne uses personificaiton to convey the cruelity of Hester's punishment. He uses a lot of personificaiton and metaphorical descriptions of nature in this passage, yet this one calls out to me the most. The sun does not shine upon Hester because it too can see the scarlet letter on her bosom. Just like everyone else in Boston, the sun tries it's best to advoid Hester. This quote displays Pearl's daring personality and willingness to drive her mother up the wall. It was a cruel thing to say to a mother, yet Hester takes it anyways. She knows that her daughter is the only one she has left. If Hester angered Pearl, there would be no one left to keep Hester company. 
    “…a thousand and a thousand people had met him here, and had written in his book, and have his mark on them. And that ugly-tempered lady, old Mistress Hibbins, was one. And, mother, the old dame said that this scarlet letter was the Black Man’s mark on thee, and that it glows like a red flame when thou meetest him at midnight, here in the dark wood. Is it true, mother? And dost thou go to meet him in the night-time?”-Hawthorne
    Yet again, Pearl's curiousity is after her mother. The Black Man is reffering to the devil. Pearl mentions that her mother had written her name in the Devil's book and he had given her the scarlet letter in return. She also says that Dimmesdale had written his name too and that's why he holds his hand over his heart. Keep in mind, Pearl is young and she has yet to learn about the sin her parents made. Her eagerness to discover the truth is what causes her harsh quesitoning.

    Hester returns back to reality after her flashbacks of her life with Chillingworth in England. She pays attention to Pearls behavior on the beach, throwing pebbles at the seagles and laying jellyfish out to dry. In a puritan's mind, it is considered a sin to adore yourself yet Pearl loves her beauty and stares at her reflection in the water. She makes jewlrey out of seaweed. She inherited her mother's sense of fashion and that wild-spirit like behavior. Hester still wonders if her daughter's sins exists because her daughter was created out of her own sinful actions. Pearl then made her own scarlet letter out of eelgrass. Shocked, Hester questions her if she even knows what the scarlet letter represents. Pearl responds to her mother:
     “Truly I do!” 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
    This quote indicates that Pearl senses the connection between the Minister and her mother. I don't think she fully grasps what had happened in her mother's past yet, she gets the basics. In a way she's pushing her mother to confess the full truth to her by wearing the green "A", yet Hester beats around the bush with this once.

    There's truth in this chapter's title. This chapter gives us another view in Hester. It speaks of her relationships, feelings and views of life. In the beginning, it explains her worries for the young Reverend Dimmesdale. His health is gradually declining. They describe her relationship with him as an iron link holding them together because of their crime. A chain not made of silver or gold, but iron. 
    Years had passed and the town's people began to view Hester differently. She struggles and works hard to make a living for her and Pearl. Even though she works hard, she still feeds the poor. She's looked upon as a gentle, sweet woman. When a disease had swept through the town, the people sought for her care. Her scarlet letter no longer brought her pain. It brought Hester and the town comfort:
    "In all seasons of calamity, indeed, whether general or of individuals, the outcast of society at once found her place. She came, not as a guest, but as a rightful inmate, into the household that was darkened by trouble; as if its gloomy twilight were a medium in which she was entitled to hold intercourse with her fellow-creatures. There glimmered the embroidered letter, with comfort in its unearthly ray."-Hawthorne
    The "A"  on her bosom that had stood for adultery, not stood for able. She was able to move on from the past and still make a living. This chapter shows Hester Prynne's strength and ability to pull herself out of a tuff situation. The people of Boston now looked at the scarlet letter and thought it represented her good deeds.

    Out of guilt and driven by bad dreams, Reverend Dimmesdale ends up on the same platform where Hester had stood during her penalty. It was in the middle of the night and Hester and Pearl were just coming back from the deceased Governor's home when they came across Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale invited them up to join him on the platform and they all stood there, with pearl in the middle, holding on to her parent's hands. Pearl herself is symbol in this novel. She's the link between the two lovers and it's the only thing that's connecting them. It's ironic that Pearl, the symbol for Hester's and Dimmesdale's sin, is the only thing that can bring them full relief and happiness. The reverend is pretending to confess his sin with Pearl and Hester by his side. Out of his make believe games he hopes to relive some of his guilt. 
    Pearl knows that Dimmesdale is her father. Hawthorne makes the connection between the two strong enough that Pearl can just sense the truth. She interrupts Dimmesdale's make-believe game by asking him to confess tomorrow at noon time. The reverend replies that he won't conffess till the day he dies, due to his responsibilites as a minister. Pearl is angered by and basically calls him a coward.  Then out of nowhere:
    "...a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere. So powerful was its radiance, that it thoroughly illuminated the dense medium of cloud betwixt the sky and earth...the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter,—the letter A..."-Hawthorne
    In my own opinion, this is ridiculously cheesy, but you have to have an understanding that people didn't know much about space back then. The meteor might be a lousy symbol, but it is important in this novel. They take it as a message from God. Hawthorne lacked the descriptions of the character's reactions and we never really know how they felt about the meteor. Maybe they didn't know how to feel, because they didn't know what God was trying to say.
    Chillingworth lurks in the shadows, viewing the scene. He is pointed out by Pearl. Hester is surprised to see him there. Dimmesdale questions to who this man really is. The reverend makes it clear that he has a bad feeling in his gut towards this man. It's only his natural instinct. Another ridiculous thing is that Hester lets Chillingworth walk Dimmesdale home after finding out his true identity. I thought she loved him, but apparently not enough that she won't stop the possible opportunity of Dimmesdale being harmed.
    The next day in church, Dimmesdale is confronted by one of the town's people. He informs the reverend of the Devil's scandalous crime, in which he stole his glove and put it on the scaffold.  Dimmesdale goes along with it and also lies about not seeing the meteor. The ending towards this chapter really shows how much the town's people rely on Reverend Dimmesdale.

    Inside the Heart, focuses on  Reverend Dimmesdale. It give the readers a personal understanding to Dimmesdale's feelings, reputation, and relationships. In the beginning of the chapter, Hawthorne states that Chillingworth and Dimmesdale's relationship is akward. Chillingworth's determination for revenge aggravates Dimmesdale. He's make the Reverend uncomfortable by asking too many personal questions. While the relationship between the two becomes difficult, Dimmesdale's relationship with the church is promising. The town's people think that Dimmesdale is a messenger from heaven above:
    "They deemed the young clergyman a miracle of holiness.  They fancied him the mouth-piece of Heaven’s messages of wisdom, and rebuke, and love. In their eyes, the very ground on which he trod was sanctified." -Hawthorne   
    With this popular reputation, there is also a great amount of responsibility. A Reverend has to be honest towards God and Dimmesdale's guilt is eating him alive.  Dimmesdale is beginning to hate himself and he's starting to beat himself up over it. His guilt and sin is symbolized as a bloody whip in which he's whipping himself with. 

    One day while Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are in the study, they hear the voices of Pearl and Hester coming from outside. Chillingworth asks Dimmesdale if Hester is better off hiding her sin than having confessed it. Dimmesdale replies that she is better off confessing it, but is obviously akward with the question. Chillingworth begins to tell the Minister that he can not fully heal if he doesn't know his problems. Angered, Dimmesdale rushed out of the room. This raises questions to why he was angered and what the Minister is hiding. It really shows the determination Chillingworth has to figure out Dimmesdale. 
    "No!—not to thee!—not to an earthly physician!” cried Mr. Dimmesdale, passionately, and turning his eyes, full and bright, and with a kind of fierceness, on old Roger Chillingworth. “Not to thee! But, if it be the soul’s disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul! He, if it stand with his good pleasure, can cure; or he can kill! Let him do with me as, in his justice and wisdom, he shall see good. But who art thou, that meddlest in this matter?—that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?”-Hawthorne
    This is basically Dimmesdale telling Chillingworth to get out of his business. He conffesses he's a sinner, and the only person that should be in his business is God.