The Scarlet Letter 5: P107-126

I. Quotations
1. "Nevertheless I cannot answer for her [...] But still, methinks, it must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart." - Arthur Dimmesdale (page 123)

• Just as Chillingworth had thought before, "at some inevitable moment, will the soul of the sufferer be dissolved [...] bringing all its mysteries into the daylight" (113), Dimmesdale's back line of keeping the secret was dissolved in the presence of Hester and Pearl. He feels that his guilt has be enlarged because he thinks Hester is bearing the guilt of sin by herself for him. This is why he said that it is better to show one's sin than hiding it from the light.
  
• He also said that he cannot answer the question -whether Hester is sinful or not - for her . This is an interesting point because in The Crucible, Elizabeth said basically the same thing. She said she cannot make the choice for Proctor because one has no right to judge others' fate. It is all about oneself and God - only yourself and God can truly understand what your heart really wants; therefore, only the sinner and God could determine his or her soul shall be redeemed or not.
  

2. "But, if it be the soul's disease, then do I commit myself to the one Physician of the soul! He, if it stand with His good pleasure, can cure; or He can kill! Let Him do with me as, in His justice and wisdom, He shall see good. But who are thou, that meddlest in this matter? - that dares thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?"- Arthur Dimmesdale (page 124)

• This quote reveals Dimmesdale's view of redemption. He believes that one can only be redeemed by God; it is an issue between the sufferer and his God. Dimmesdale does not want to share his secret with Chillingworth; but to a deeper level, Dimmesdale was just avoiding an outsider to interfere and ruin his relationship with God. We have to say that clergies always have better understandings of God's relationship with us than ordinary people. Proctor, the main character in the play The Crucible, had a hard time finding the way to be ultimately redeemed. He found out, in the end, that only God, can grant the forgiveness to sinners, but not society. He also figured out that one shall forgive him or herself first in order to embrace the love of God and be back to our Father's arms. So for Dimmesdale, all he has to do now is to speak out his sins and forgive himself truly. Only in this way, shall the light of Heaven shine upon him and the mercy of God will save him from the devil.
  

II. Discussing Questions
1.What kind of relationship does Chillingworth and Dimmesdale has? Who is taking advantage of it?

2. What did Chillingworth find out at the end of chapter 10?