This time, though, the scene occurs at night, nearly seven years after the novel begins. This scene started began when Dimmesdale ran out into the town, driven insane with guilt and remorse. Dimmesdale finally acknowledges Hester and Pearl at the scaffold and they are united hand-in-hand, forming an "electric chain." Hester learns of Arthur’s torture by Chillingworth and vows to save him. Dimmesdale is not forgiven by Hester and God as he will not stand with Hester and Pearl in broad daylight. Hester is suddenly petrified in the end and points out Chillingworth watching them with ‘’malevolence towards his …show more content…
As Hester grows and changes in the novel, the letter's symbolism evolves as well. It means different things to different people, and is present everywhere throughout the book. Hester herself changes her views on the scarlet letter and it is because of this one letter that Hester's life is changed.
In the beginning chapters, the letter is taken as a label of punishment and sin. Hester Prynne bears the label of the letter upon her chest and she stands as a label of an outcast in front of society. She is wearing this symbol to burden her with punishment throughout her life. She stands on a plank where her punishment is given,’’Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone.’’Society places its blames upon this woman. The letter's meaning in Puritan society banishes her from her normal