Chapters 15-19

     Chapter 15, “Hester and Pearl,” takes a look at a specific moment from the perspective of both mother and daughter. The chapter starts with Hester and Chillingworth finally parting ways as Hester watches her former husband goes, “stooping away along the earth” (159). At this moment, she is trying to let go of him and, therefore, his past, but in doing that allows the reader to see a small glimpse into what her life was like before she came to Puritan New England. She remembers how quiet her life was and how much Chillingworth “had persuaded her to fancy herself happy by his side” (160). With that final thought, she tells herself, “He betrayed me!” (160) and seems to let go of Chillingworth’s invisible grasp that had been holding her back and scaring her into silence. The chapter then provides a callback to a moment when Pearl was younger. She collected stones and “creeping from rock to rock after these small sea-fowl” (161) began throwing the rocks at birds as she had done with the children in town earlier in her life. The rest of the chapter sees Pear making the connection between her mother’s “A” and Dimmesdale’s hand over his heart, but is still unsure how the two are connected. Hester continually avoids her questions, but as chapter 16, “A Forest Walk,” begins, Hester contemplates if it is the right time to tell Pearl the truth. 

The next few chapters all take place in the forest, where the symbol of light versus darkness was prominent as the sun seemingly hides from Hester but was absorbed by Pearl. The focus then shifts onto the realization that the two are in the forest to meet Dimmesdale, so Hester can confide in him the truth about Chillingworth. As Hester sees him approaching, it is clear how different things are from seven years ago. His appearance, like both Hester and Chillingworth, is vastly different, and he is visibly carrying his guilt and shame everywhere with him. Hester notices that he looks “haggard and feeble” (171) as well as “he kept his hand over his heart” (172). 

As chapter 17 begins and Hester and Dimmesdale are finally able to speak to each other, they seem to take a minute to open up. Ther interaction is described as being like “the first encounter in the world beyond the grave, of two spirits who had been intimately connected in their former life” (174). Because of their circumstances and Hester trying to protect the man she loved, the two had never been able to have a proper conversation, let alone tell Pearl who her birth father is. The chapter ended with the two deciding to take Pear and leave their home to be somewhere together.

The final two chapters seem to blend as the main focus comes back to Pearl. Chapter 18 has Hester telling Dimmesdale that he can now get to know “Our little Pearl” (187), who Dimmesdale confesses has always frightened him. Pearl is then described as the light again when the minister calls her “a bright-apparelled vision, in a sunbeam” (187). Maybe it is not that Pear’s “supernatural” aspects make her bad, but make her good and allow the sun to be on her. At this point in the novel, she seems to almost be the embodiment of light in the way both her mother and Dimmesdale describe her appearance. The supernatural and sometimes frightening aspect about her is not lost, though, as chapter 19 details her reaction to seeing the two adults together and how she seems to force Hester back into the darkness of the scarlet "A" that she had previously thrown by the river. While Hester had been trying to shed what she thought was covering her womanhood and who she was before Pearl, her daughter does not recognize this other version of Hester. It is not until Hester covers her hair and picks up the "A" that Pearl will walk near her and Dimmesdale.