“‘Then, and there, before the judgment-seat, thy mother, and thou, and I must stand together. But the daylight of this world shall not see our meeting!’” (139).
- In this quotation Dimmesdale reveals that he feels that they will be judged together. His sin and Hester’s sin are the same. They will be judged the same way. He probably felt somewhat relieved standing on the scaffold holding hands with the sinners whose sins are known to everyone. He was confused about his judgment or redemption process, but now seems to understand it. In a way it relates to Proctor, but in the opposite sense. Proctor felt the need to tell people about his sin and then later understands that only God can judge him. Dimmesdale begins feeling only God can judge him, but feels so much guilt that he now feels the need to tell people about his sin.
When will they be judged together? Will there ever be a time?
“‘Who is that man, Hester?’ gasped Mr. Dimmesdale, overcome with terror. ‘I shiver at him! Dost thou know the man? I hate him, Hester!’” (142).
- This quotation takes place after Dimmesdale has been standing on the scaffold with Pearl and Hester. After that interaction he sees a man watching them. He is very weary of the man. He does not feel right while this man is looking at him. He most likely feels that weird feeling that you get when you do not know who someone is and they are staring at you, but there is a chance that he realizes something odd with the man. He should have these feelings because the man watching him is Chillingworth, and Chillingworth is out to get him. Dimmesdale does not realize this yet, but hopefully come to this realization before it is too late.
In this quotation does Dimmesdale know it is Chillingworth or is he spooked by the presence of the unknown man?
No comments:
Post a Comment