Chapters 23-24

Dimmesdale makes a moving speech. After that he sees Hester and Pearl. Takes them up on the scaffold, Chillingsworth tries to stop them. They profess their love and accept Pearl as the product of their sin. Dimmesdale dies right there. It is still not clear if he really has anything on his chest that is visible. I still think its angina or chronic chest pain. They are all released of their sins and Chillingsworths reason to live is gone. He dies within a year.

What a shallow person (Chillingsworth). His malice was his demise. Hester is released from her pbulic scrutiny and takes Pearl away. I'm glad to see that she finally felt like the burden was off her back. She continued to wear the scarlet letter til death. She is buried near Dimmesdale, but not next to him. Hester finally has some peace in her later years. She starts to do more charity work.

Dimmesdale feels his best recourse is to publicly confess his sin since he will soon die. about half the constituiency never fully understands what he said, nor ever believes it, but feel he is making some oblique references to forgiveness as a whole. About half the people thought there was a brand of the letter A on his chest but others felt he was stainless. Pearl recognises him for who he is and is kind to him in his last minutes and 'becomes a different child' after the death. Hester never says anything publicly but stands beside Dimmesdale and is his physical support. She does speak just to Dimmesdale asking if they might be together in the afterlife. I did not take it that she felt they would be in Hell. Chillingworth was never exposed to the public as the husband of Hester and perhaps had some remorse in his part in hesters long suffering because he left all of his property to Pearl upon his death. this set her up to be a woman of merit and it sounds like she married well. She never returned to new england but hester did. It sounds like Pearl became a loving daughter and sent her mother letters and gifts. Hester was happy when she returned to new england and continued to serve the poor until her death.