Dialectal Journal 9-16 The Scarlet Letter

“But did your reverence hear of the portent that was seen last night? –a great red letter in the sky, -the letter A, which we interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night, it was doubtless held fit that there should be some notice thereof!” In this passage, some clergymen come up to Dimmesdale and tell him how they found his glove on the scaffold and how this was the work of the devil. They thought this was a dull trick since the minister is so pure. They then go on to discuss how they saw the red A in the sky. Dimmesdale says he had not heard of it. We have already seen this symbol on Hester’s chest to mark her sin, but we haven’t seen the A exaggerated to this degree.
I think this symbol in the sky is a symbol for Dimmesdale and how he cannot bring himself to confess to his crime of adultery. The A was in the sky and this illustrates how Dimmesdale is falling deeper and deeper into his guilt because the A was very large. I think it is represented this way so Dimmesdale gets the message. However, he still cannot let go of his guilt and creates a bigger problem. The A is also very simple. It is described as red and faint in the sky. Hester’s A, on the other hand, was lavishly decorated with gold thread and made large in proportion to her dress. Hester embraced the scarlet letter and became known as a strong person and a kind woman to the needy. Many even began to interpret that the A meant “able”. Dimmesdale cannot accept his fate, and although the A is large in the sky, it is slightly outlined and I think this represents how Dimmesdale cannot accept what he did like Hester. He suffers because of this but Hester has become stronger.

“Mother,’ said little Pearl, ‘the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom … Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!’ … The