Scarlet Letter the Use of Term Paper

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The darkness and fire of Hester stands in contrast with Roger Chillingworth, a harsh, cold judgmental man. His quest for the truth and illumination of Hester's condition becomes an evil quest. When the reader is fully introduced to him in Chapter 10, the perversion of light is seen as Hawthorne writes of his gaze: "Sometimes a light glimmered out of the physician's eyes, burning blue and ominous, like the reflection of a furnace." The Reverend Dimmesdale, Pearl's true father, can only meet Hester in darkness and night, and vision is given only by a "little glimmering light" by moonlight. Rather than goodness, the knowledge and light of Pearl's parentage cannot survive the fuller light of day. Truth comes in darkness, and the light brings concealment of Hester's secret once again. This constant confusion of light and dark shows how truth and morality are confused in the novel.

Only when Dimmesdale fully claims Pearl as "my little Pearl" in Chapter 23, does the novel fully accept the traditional association between goodness and light, and evil and darkness.

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"This earthly faintness, was, in their view, only another phase of the minister's celestial strength; nor would it have seemed a miracle too high to be wrought for one so holy, had he ascended before their eyes, waxing dimmer and brighter, and fading at last into the light of heaven!" Light and heaven are only joined together when Dimmesdale admits the truth. Although Dimmesdale is a minister, his celestial goodness and strength of character only comes forth when he is honest, and does not hide in the darkness of night and hypocrisy. Finally, the world has been made right, now that there are no more secrets. The supposedly blameless minister has desire, but this desire is not dark. Rather it is healthy and good and resulted in the creation of a blessed child, even though it is a child out of wedlock.

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