Chapter 12 Of The Scarlet Letter

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Chapter 12 of the Scarlet Letter

Introduction

The scarlet letter is a piece written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. The author gave it a

romantic touch and the book receive praises of its mastery of the English language. This paper

seeks to discuss chapter 12 of this book in details. The paper will delve into not only a summary

but also analysis of the chapter.

Summary

After going out, Dimmesdale strolls to the 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 hated himself a cries out loud all through the night

(Hawthorne, 181).

Pearl and Hester return from the deathbed of Governor Winthrop and mount the scaffold.

The three stand in solidarity, Dimmesdale and Hester connected by Pearl. Pearl asks twice as to

whether he will stay with them until the following day’s noon; the minister confirms that he keep

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them company till "the great day of atonement. During his speech, a weird light in the sky

illuminated the scaffold and its environs (Hawthorne, 182).

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 given a surprise by the

sexton who returns his gloves that were on the scaffold. The sexton, also curious, ask about the

weird light that was witnessed the previous night (Hawthorne, 183).

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 the Dimmesdale's actions when his great use of

psychological realism was on scaffold 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 happened in the afternoon hours and focused on the guilt of Hester and his

punishment (Bloom 234).

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This subsequent scene happening in the wee hours of the night places together

wrongdoers on the scaffold and focuses on the guilt of Dimmesdale and his punishment. Every

major character of the initial scene are all present again. The town still remains asleep regardless

of it is present and is not aware of the action.

In the previous chapters, it noticeable that Dimmesdale disturbed and he is endeavouring

to reason through his concealed guilt’s problem. In comparison, in this chapter, the author shows

Dimmesdale mentally 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 keeps off the matter banking on the fact that the town was asleep and there is 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 (Bloom 238).

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 effect, Hawthorne is keen in giving a

natural explanation for every one of them. Hawthorne describes the source of light arguing that it

was caused by the meteors. Obviously, the meteor looked different to the people who witnessed.

Moreover it 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

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In this chapter, the author focuses on the scaffold scenes. He focuses on bring 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

minster. The author also has a Gothic detail in his work particular 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.

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Works cited

Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Eds. Ed

Bruno Leone, et al. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Cindy Weinstein. The scarlet letter. Oxford University Press,

2008.Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The scarlet letter: 1850. Infomotions, Incorporated, 1850.Print.

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Chapter 12 of The Scarlet Letter

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