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.
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.
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