By now, Hester's husband, Roger Chillingworth, suspects Reverend Dimmsdale of being the father of Hester's baby. The second scaffold scene takes place years later, during the middle of the novel. All of the main characters of the novel are present in this scene of the novel, as they are in every scaffold scene. The reader is left wondering who the father of Hester's baby is. Reverend Dimmsdale is designated to get Hester to reveal the name of her fellow sinner but when she refuses to do so, he backs off. The town governor and reverends are also present at this gathering. The two meet eyes and he gestures for her to keep his presence a secret. She then sees him in the crowd dressed half in Native garb and half European. She often thinks about a misshapen scholar, the man she has married and came to America with. Hester tries to remove herself from the situation and reminisces about her life. Hester proves to be a strong character during all of this torture because when she feels like exploding with anguish, she just smiles a bitter, disdainful smile. A few women wish vicious things such as death or branding upon Hester, but one woman states that she will always feel the pain deep inside of her heart no matter what consequences she has to endure. This foreshadows the way she will be treated because of her sin. Throughout her time on the scaffold she is pummeled with dirty remarks from the people in her town even the children mock her. She is being spared her life because her husband has yet to return home. Hester and Pearl are stuck on the scaffold for this entire scene. It is revealed that she has committed adultery and therefore must wear a scarlet letter, 'A,' for the rest of her life. The first scaffold scene, which is also the first main scene in the novel, gives us a clearer introduction to Hester Prynne who is accompanied by her newborn, Pearl. In the novel, "The Scarlet Letter," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the three scenes at the scaffolding as structure for the novel and to further the plot and understanding of the characters, themes, and symbols. This paper received the grade of an 86, mainly because of too much plot. This is missing the rest of the third scaffold scene and a conclusion, it's also unedited for the most part, sorry, i don't have it here.
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