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Scarlett Letter

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Scarlett Letter
The book the Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, follows the story of Hester Prynne who is punished for the crime of adultery. The story starts off when Hester and her three month old baby, Pearl, is being brought out of prison and put on a scaffold and publicly humiliated. While she is standing there she spots her husband. Two years prior, he has sent her ahead to Massachusetts and was planning on coming later but never made it. He signals to her to keep quiet. While on the stage, she is encouraged by Reverend Dimmesdale to reveal the name of her companion. But we later find out that he was her companion. Once Hester is thrown back in the prison, she is visited by her husband who used the alias as Roger Chillingworth, the physician. He told her he forgave for cheating on him as long as she promised to keep his identity a secret. Once Hester was released from prison, she moved to an isolated cabin house. She made a living by needlework. She was very skilled but no one would ever hire her for weddings or special occasions.
One day Hester heard that people were saying that she was an unsuited mother and that Pearl should be taken away. Determined, Hester and Pearl walked down to Governor Richard Billingham’s office to try to persuade him not to take Pearl away. When they got there they found Roger Chillingworth, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Governor Billingham. The Governor asked Pearl some religious questions and Pearl didn’t know the answers. The governor was prepared to take Pearl away when Reverend Dimmesdale stepped in and said Pearl looked like an A and that she would remind Hester of her sin every day. His statement changed the Governor’s mind allowing Hester to keep Pearl.
Reverend Dimmesdale always seemed sick and always held his heart so people convinced him and physician Chillingworth to live together. Chillingworth already suspected Dimmesdale of being Pearl’s father. Chillingworth found out that the Dimmesdale was Pearl’s father

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