As I was reading the chapter that concludes the story of the Scarlet Letter, I was amazed at how difficult it was for the townspeople to pin point exactly what had happed during Rev. Dimmesdale's final speech. " Most of the spectators testified to having seen, on the breast of the unhappy minister, a Scarlet Letter- the very semblance of that worn by Hester Prynne- imprinted on the flesh. As regarded its origin, there were various explantions..." (Ch 24, Pg 242). The fact that they all had different speculations was intersting... how amazing that Hawthorne was able to create a group of people who act exactly like we would act if placed in that situation. Would we be able to accept what had happened, and not try to include our own views? Or would wetry to justify what had happened?
That was a very interesting part in the book, just like Hawthorne never really says how Dimmesdale dies. How can each of the different views of what happened be interpeted?
Posted by: Meredith Benson at September 22, 2005 10:52 PM