Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (Ch 22-24, Introductory) -- American Literature, 1800-1915 (EL 266)
I really don't know why Hawthorne couldn't have made the entire book as good as the ending. Finally, some characterf! Some feeling! Something interesting!
"People of New England!...ye, that have loved me!- ye, that have deemed me holy!- behold me here, the one sinner of the world! At last!- at last!- I stand upon the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here. with this woman..."
This is probably the most obvious quote to write an agenda item for but I'm not giong to let that stop me. It's a good quote! What the reader has been waiting for- Dimmesdale's confession- finally occurs. He holds back nothing- probably because he is about to die anyway. Hawthorne once again puts a little life into Dimmesdale and takes the focus away from Hester, previously the main character. Too bad he waited until Chapter 23...
Hawthorne did end the book like a 'Seinfeld' episode though (weird analogy, I know. Those who have watched the show understand- it isn't quite complete, not exactly fully resolved). Hester, who this entire novel is basically about, practically disappears. She returns and embroiders some but is more like a shadow in town. Then again, with Dimmesdale's confession, how could she ever really return to her standing? Pearl too is gone, leaving questions as to her life and potential marriage. One would think, after a novel which prominently features these two characters, Hawthorne would have closed the story a bit better.
Posted by VanessaKolberg at September 21, 2005 04:18 PM | TrackBackI agree that this was an awesome turning point in the story; however, I would give Hawthorne more credit in the conclusion department. He told us that Pearl was probably off married and had children (hello baby embroidery), and that Hester returned to the town to spend her final years. I think he concluded the novel, but still allowed us to believe what we would like about Hester and Pearl's future. Maybe Pearl is working for a European circus and needs a cute outfit for her pet monkey, but I would tend to believe that she is married and found peace with her world.
Posted by: Meredith Harber at September 21, 2005 05:09 PMVanessa- that's interesting how you think Dimmesdale gives the whole truth and holds back nothing because he is about to "die anyways". I didn't think of it this way. I thought that it took him so much to give the truth which burdened him for so long, that he just died. Its like- all of these years of internal guilt finally led him to death because God gave him relief when he spoke the truth. That relief being death.
Posted by: Ashley Holtzer at September 21, 2005 06:51 PMIt was a pretty good ending. You're right...finally something interesting. For the most part the book was pretty in depth and drawn out to a point. Emotion was pretty high through the entire thing, and it finally built up to a point and exploded. Dimmsdale had died, Pearl got to stand with him on the scaffold like she always wanted, and Hester finally wasn't alone with her sin. When I was reading Ashley's blog, she said she wanted them all to run off and be a big happy family. But I wouldn't have changed the ending of the book for anything. I think it was great the way it is.
Posted by: Liz Ludovici at September 21, 2005 11:07 PM