Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Scarlet Letter D.J. # 46 - Chapter 21: Part 3.

"“What a strange, sad man is he!” said the child, as if speaking partly to herself. “In the dark night-time, he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the scaffold yonder! And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss! And he kisses my forehead, too, so that the little brook would hardly wash it off! But here in the sunny day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him! A strange, sad man is he, with his hand always over his heart!”" (pg. 199 8th paragraph)
Pearl notices that Dimmesdale can only reveal his sin when he is in the 'shadows'. the only times he does so is in the middle of the night on the scaffolding and in the dark forest. When he is in public he cant do so and to make it even worse he wont even acknowledge the two of them, instead he holds his hand over his heart to cover his pain. Pearl feels sorry for him that he has all this pain, and has the ability to get rid of it, but decides to hide it, with his hand over his heart. 

1 comment:

  1. Good. Why does this make him a "strange, sad men"? Nice entry.

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