Hawthorne says that if the scarlet letter had fallen into the brook, it then would have “given the little brook another woe to carry onward. . .” He also says the brook had “unintelligible tales which it still kept murmuring about.” (Hawthorne, 223). The brook’s water flow was like all the sorrows from the sin committed being washed away. In the scene that Hester and Dimmesdale were next to the brook, they both confessed aloud how they felt, and, in Dimmesdale’s case, confessed the truth for the first time. At that moment, the sorrow and pain from keeping the secret to themselves for so long was washed away, like the water in the brook. The brook seemed to also wash away the dirt of their souls, metaphorically. After their confessions, both Hester and Dimmesdale felt a sense of relief upon
Hawthorne says that if the scarlet letter had fallen into the brook, it then would have “given the little brook another woe to carry onward. . .” He also says the brook had “unintelligible tales which it still kept murmuring about.” (Hawthorne, 223). The brook’s water flow was like all the sorrows from the sin committed being washed away. In the scene that Hester and Dimmesdale were next to the brook, they both confessed aloud how they felt, and, in Dimmesdale’s case, confessed the truth for the first time. At that moment, the sorrow and pain from keeping the secret to themselves for so long was washed away, like the water in the brook. The brook seemed to also wash away the dirt of their souls, metaphorically. After their confessions, both Hester and Dimmesdale felt a sense of relief upon