Dimmesdale quote sandwich

Hester’s character takes the burden of carrying a symbol of disgrace publicly. Dimmesdale’s character cannot openly take this burden on, so in a sense of self-condemnation he takes it upon himself to physically and mentally punish himself. “…while standing on the scaffold, in this vain show of expiation, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart.  On that spot, in very truth, there was, and there had long been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain”(233). Dimmesdale dilemma is trying to fight the torment of not telling the truth. Since he can’t bring himself to do so his is soon withering and dimming away in body and spirit.

The Relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale is rarely seen. The characters are only seen together in secret without the knowledge of the external factors such as the townspeople. “The Minister felt for the child’s other hand, and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain”(238). Dimmesdale is a broken man but when connected to Hester and Pearl his external and internal conflict don’t impair him.

Difficulty paper Scarlet Letter

I found it difficult to understand Hester’s husbands Chillingworth’s character throughout the book. I especially found it difficult to understand him when Hester finds that he has come to the town early on in the book and agrees to keep him a secret from the town and the Dimmesdale. Hester later tells Dimmesdale about the truth about Chillingworth character but only when Dimmesdale is most fragile.  I found it odd that the townspeople never really questioned his presence but thought he had fallen from the sky or risen from the earth. From that people thought his presence was a miracle, which seems a little bit ridiculous. I found it strange that Hester wouldn’t warn Dimmesdale about living with the man who had sworn to find out who Pearl’s father was destroy him.  The townspeople later say a physical change since Dimmesdale and Chillingworth moved in, they saw Chillingworth face become more deformed. They saw something ugly and evil in his face.  The townspeople throughout this especially got me angry. They judge every person in the town so easily and every time their judgment is very superficial. I also found it odd the relationship between Pearl and Hester because it seems that see loves Pearl devoutly but also finds peace when she sleeps. The whole town she’s her as a odd child but so does Hester. Which I find weird because that’s her daughter and yet she occasionally seems baffled by her too. 

difficulty paper YGB

When I started reading Young Goodman Brown, it didn’t seem hat difficult to read gradually was hard to follow. I understand that YGB was testing himself and his faith by entering the forest but I feel a little lost why he feels so distressful in church. In class we talked about how he saw the people surrounding him as evil. He started out by being a very proud untainted religious man but as the story progresses he definitely changes. I personally think he should have listened to his wife about not going on that path though he decided to do so anyways because he thought he would test himself. I really don’t understand why he would even talk to the fellow traveler he saw who clearly represented the devil. I find it interesting that even with the devil telling him that he has been acquainted with his grandfather and grandfather who helped bring helped lash a Quaker woman in the streets of Salem and father who set fire to an Indian village. If that was personally me, I feel like I would start running the other way. Those deeds seem evil.  Its interesting that in both the Crucible and Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne still feels responsible and guilty of what his ancestors did in the past by writing about those evils.