Chapter 12 Of The Scarlet Letter

Introduction

The scarlet letter is was written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The American author gave it a romance touch and the book receive praises of its mastery in the English language. This paper seeks to discuss chapter 12 of this book in details. The paper will delve into not only summary but also analysis of the chapter.

Summary

After going out, Dimmesdale strolls to scaffold, a place Hester Prynne stood seven years earlier, wearing her indication of disgrace while holding pearl. In the chilly weather of a cloudy May night, she mounts steps while everyone in town is asleep. On realizing how weird it is for him to stand there unseen and safe, where he ought to have stood seven years ago in front of the town residents, Dimmesdale hates himself and cries out loud all through the night.

Pearl and Hester return from the deathbed of Governor Winthrop and mount the scaffold. The three stands in solidarity and Dimmesdale and Hester are connected by Pearl. Pearl asks twice whether he will stay with them until noon the following day; the minister confirms that he will keep them company till “the great day of atonement. During his speech, a weird light in the sky illuminated the scaffold and its environs.

Dimmesdale makes an observation in the sky and sees an overcast red light in the shape of a big letter A. Concurrently, Dimmesdale notices that Pearl is pointing at Roger Chillingworth, who is not far away from where they are standing, drearily grinning up at the three victims on the scaffold. Overwhelmed with fear, Dimmesdale inquiries from Hester about Roger Chillingworth’s real identity. Hester remains silent on remembering her promise to Roger Chillingworth. The following morning, after a sermon, the minister is surprised by the sexton, who returns his gloves that were on the scaffold. The sexton, also curious, asks about the weird light that was witnessed the previous night.

Analysis

This chapter is one of the important scaffold scenes, which comes in the middle of the book. Hawthorne brings all characters in one scene however this time in a chapter in a convincing way when it comes to psychology and it is equally rich in symbolism. The aforementioned element makes this narrative a great novel.

When Hawthorne describes Dimmesdale’s actions when his great use of psychological realism is on the scaffold, it goes unnoticed. The rapid changes when it comes to mood, which happens in the minister’s head, the self-blame for being a coward, the madness of his scream, and his desire to talk to Mr. Wilson are all put in a convincing manner. The initial scaffold scene happens in the afternoon hours and focuses on Hester’s guilt and punishment.

This subsequent scene, happening in the wee hours of the night, places wrongdoers together on the scaffold and focuses on Dimmesdale’s guilt and punishment. Every major character of the initial scene is present again. The town still remains asleep regardless of its presence, and it is not aware of the action.

In the previous chapters, it is noticeable that Dimmesdale is disturbed, and he is endeavoring to reason through his concealed guilt problem. In comparison, in this chapter, the author shows Dimmesdale’s mind disturbed, and this remains the wellspring of his agony. When Pearl pokes him with his repeated question to open up on the issue, he dreads to confess, and this affects him dearly. He kept the matter, banking on the fact that the town was asleep and there was no risk of discovery. His two rebuttals to accept that he has a connection with Pearl and Hester signifies Simon Peter’s initial denials of Jesus in the bible.

Hawthorne’s use of Gothic detail is shown in the event where a strange light appeared, and the astonishing expose’ of Roger Chillingworth, who was beside the scaffold. Nonetheless, even though the two descriptions have supernatural occurrence effects, Hawthorne is keen on giving a natural explanation for every one of them. Hawthorne describes the source of light as being caused by the meteors. Obviously, the meteor looked different to the people who witnessed it. Moreover, it was ambiguous whether the red A was in sight. Even though the sexton talks of the letter, the author argues that the A was just Dimmesdale’s imagination.

Conclusion

In this chapter, the author focuses on bringing film scenes. He focuses on bringing the characters together in one place, as he has done in his previous chapters. The author uses psychological realism in an interesting manner, especially when he describes the mood of the minister. The author also has a Gothic detail in his work, particularly when he talks about the strange light that was in sight and Roger Chillingworth’s revelation. Lastly, the author borrows from the bible in this chapter, giving us an excerpt that signifies Peter’s denial of Jesus when Dimmesdale denies association with Pearl and Hester.