notes for scarlet chapter 16 and 17

Question 1

what do hester and pearl plan to do at the beginning of chapter 16

Answer 1

plan to waylay Dimmesdale on his way back from visiting a sick person.

Question 2

what does pearl say about the sun

Answer 2

the sun is afraid of the scarlet letter

Question 3

who does pearl ask for a story about

Answer 3

Black Man who haunts the forest and offers a book and iron pen to everybody who meets him in the trees. Anyone who encounters him has to write their name in the book in blood.

Question 4

where did pearl hear this

Answer 4

overheard an old woman talking about it (common superstition)

Question 5

who is said to have written their names in the book

Answer 5

mistress Hibbins

Question 6

what was said about the scarlet letter

Answer 6

it was the black man’s mark on hester

Question 7

Pearl asks if the stories about the black man and the scarlet letter is true, what is hester’s response

Answer 7

It sure is. Hester has met the Black Man, and the scarlet letter is his mark.

Question 8

what does pearl ask dimmesdale

Answer 8

Pearl asks whether he holds his hand over his heart because the Black Man had put his mark there.\

And if he does have the Black Man’s mark there, why doesn’t he wear it on his clothes, as Hester does?

Question 9

after hester calms pearls, how does dimmesdale look

Answer 9

pretty rough

Question 10

what assures dimmesdale and hester that they are both alive

Answer 10

dimmesdale touches hester’s hand

Question 11

what question does dimmesdale ask hester

Answer 11

have you found peace

Question 12

hester replies with her own question? what is it

Answer 12

have you found peace?

Question 13

what is dimmesdale’s reply to hester’s question

Answer 13

I’m miserable

and I only feel misery from my minister job

Question 14

what does dimmesdale think about his action

Answer 14

he’s afraid that any good he does is an illusion, since there’s so much evil in his heart.

Question 15

what does dimmesdale call himself

Answer 15

a hypocrite

Question 16

who is dimmesdale’s friend

Answer 16

hester

Question 17

what does dimmesdale want out of a friend or enemy

Answer 17

somone who recognizes what he has become.

Question 18

who is dimmesdale’s enemy

Answer 18

chillingworth

Question 19

hester realizes that she has really messed things up by

Answer 19

keeping Chillingworth’s secret.

Question 20

Guilt isn’t going to cure Dimmesdale…..

Answer 20

it’s going to corrupt him.

Question 21

what happens when hester confesses

Answer 21

Dimmesdale vows he’ll never forgive her; she says that he will, and then they hug it out.

Question 22

why does dimmesdale say that chillingworth’s heart is blacker than his and hester’s

Answer 22

Dimmesdale finally says Chillingworth’s heart is way blacker than theirs because he violated the sanctity of the human heart in cold blood. At least he and Hester never did that.

Question 23

what does hester think chillingworth will do

Answer 23

seek revenge in a different way besides revealing their secret

Question 24

is dimmesdale going to keep living with chillingworth

Answer 24

nope

Question 25

where does hester say dimmesdale should go

Answer 25

How about leave the settlement? He can be free if he leaves and goes into the wilderness. (shot down)
head back to Europe, where no one’s ever even heard of Chillingworth.

Question 26

what is dimmesdale’s response in hester’s suggestions

Answer 26

Dimmesdale says he can’t run away. He will do what he can as a minister in this village, despite his fallen nature.

Question 27

how does hester encourage dimmesdale to go (quote)

Answer 27

“exchange this false life” for a “true one.”

Question 28

what is dimmesdale’s final response to hester

Answer 28

He’s too tired to leave, and he doesn’t want to go alone into the world.

Question 29

names of chapter 16 and 17

Answer 29

A Forest Walk

The Pastor and His Parishioner