Scarlet Letter Reaction Paper

Leah Mancuso
11/20/11
English 3
I predict...that Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, Hester’s
daughter. His attachment to Hester and her baby is evident from the
beginning of the book. In Chapter 3, when Hester is on the scaffold facing
public humilition, Dimmesdale is asked to speak as minister of the town how
he feels about Hester. You can tell he needs a little prodding by Wilson,
and he eventually tells her to live her sin openly, as stated in the quote:
““Hester Prynne,” said he, leaning over the balcony, and looking down
steadfastly into her eyes, “thou hearest what this good man says, and seest
the accountability under which I labor. If thou feelest it to be for thy
soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more
effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-
sinner and fellow-sufferer!...’”. There is a tremble in his voice and you
can tell that it was hard for him to say. This shows already some
attachment to Hester.
In Chapter 8, there is more evidence of Dimmesdale being the one
who committed adultery with Hester. He stands up for Hester when she is
close to getting Pearl taken away from her. He states, “‘There is truth in
what Hester says, and in the feeling that inspires her! God gave the child
to her, and He gave her an instinctive knowledge of the child’s nature and
needs. No other person could understand such a peculiar child. And doesn’t
a sacred relationship exist between this mother and her child?’” and shows
that Pearl was sent from God to help Hester live
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her sin and teach against it to Pearl. By going against the grain and
standing up for Hester, Dimmesdale proved again he felt something for her
and Pearl. When Chillingworth questions Dimmesdale about his “spirtuality”
in Chapter 10, he gets all of a sudden very defensive and refuses to speak
and says his secrets are between him and God. This sudden jump to defending
himself is more proof that Dimmesdale is hiding something, which could very
well be his affair with Hester.
* I believe I deserve an A- on this assignment. I believe that I
backed up my main idea with enough support in specific examples and quotes.
However, I feel that I could have went into more detail.
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