Scarlet Letter 144-158

Quote
"The scarlet letter had the affect of the cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted the the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril" (147).

Response
The sacredness that is provided by the scarlet letter is not positive, the people of the society are not regarding Hester as the type of sacred that Dimmesdale is. Hester is sacred, or is able to walk securely because nobody wants to be anywhere near her. It is understandable that a murderer could walk amongst the baddest of the bad because people would be scared of them, nobody is scared of an adulteress. It is simply the fact that nobody wants to be near a sinner that affords Hester a feeling of security.

Quote
"Hester could not but ask herself, whether there had not originally been a defect of truth, courage, and loyalty, on her own part, in allowing the minister to be thrown into a position where so much evil was to be foreboded, and nothing auspicious to be hoped"(151).

Response
Chillingworth's startling amount of evil is even causing Hester to second guess her decision to keep silent the name of Pearl's father. It may have helped DImmesdale if Hester gave him up but that is irrelevant to his current situation, Dimmesdale should have confessed. Taking all this into consideration, Chillingworth is taking his revenge much too far. As was discussed in class, Dimmesdale is a tortured soul and he does not need anyone to contribute to his torture. Chillingworth is the spawn of Satan.