So it just hit me that this book is a lot like one of those soap operas your mom makes you watch with her. There is scandalous things going on around every corner. So were finally at the point where Chillingworth is very close to finding out who the father of Pearl is. His countless days of caring for Dimmesdale are finally going to pay off. While he was trying to cure Dimmesdale of his sickness he noticed that Dimmesdale would act weird when the topic of burying secrets and sin came up. I believe Chillingworth picked up on that and he is now suspicious that Dimmesdale could be the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale is trying to do everything in his power to keep it a secret and in turn it is destroying him mentally and now physically. If a secret is ravaging your mind and body it must come out for the sake of your health. Our minds are so powerful and sometimes when we think about things so frequently they start to manifest and become real. Towards the end of the chapter Pearl and Hester are in the graveyard and Pearl sees Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Pearl says that the "Black Man" has already captured the minister and that they should leave before he gets them. I believe that the "Black Man" could be a conjuring of the devil. Maybe Pearl can sense this because she is a demon child.
Chapter eleven delves into the mind of Dimmesdale. He is starting to become more consumed in the act of his sin. Its even worse for him because as the minister he is a role model and he preaches the Bible for a living. It would be disastrous if the town knew of his sins. With all of these emotions he is able to deliver his most powerful sermon to date which was about sin. I related this to "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards.
Chapter twelve is a hot mess. There is a lot going on in this chapter and it was a challenge to wrap my mind around it. Dimmesdale is now starting to have visions and has made his way to the scaffold where he is joined by Hester and Pearl. They see a meteor shoot across the sky and then Dimmesdale believes that he saw a red "A" after the meteor passed. Pearl starts to talk to Dimmesdale and then they are spotted by Chillingworth. At this point I believe that Pearl knows Dimmesdale is her father and Chillingworth knows that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father.
Great job Bernard ( and I know you emailed me about the posting date)
ReplyDeleteI love this post Bernard ( such exquisite vocabulary used ) and I do agree on your concept of "the Black Man". After reading some of the extra pages on the black I learned why Hawthorne gave his characters their characteristics and names. "The Black Man" back in the colonial day was considered to be the devil or Native Americans. It is significant that Chillingworth had been living with Native Americans and had been learning their healing remedies ( they were the best thing on earth ) and using it for his "black magic" against Dimmesdale. I love how Pearl can see right through him .
ReplyDeleteI like your idea behind the "Black Man" but I feel like she is referring to Chillingworth, considering he is a creepy character in the book and he has devilish qualities. As far as Pearl knowing that Dimmesdale is her dad, im not sure about it. I feel like she subconsciously knows because children have more intuition and an open mind then adults which is why she took such a liking to him and is content around him. I also agree with Chin, your vocabulary is great in this blog, it really drew me in and made me grasp more of what you were saying.
ReplyDeleteHa, I was just going to settle for referring to Pearl as "supernatural" (fits, right?), rather than the harsh term "demon child". I don't think she is a demon child because, if she's a demon child for being born out of wedlock, then there are MANY demon children walking this earth (myself included). I'm pretty sure I'm not a demon child, and I'm pretty sure Pearl is not a demon child. She's just..."different". (Open to interpretation). Apart from that, the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" reference was very clever. I forgot about that story for a second. Nice job :)
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