Chapter 24Conclusion

After a while, when people had time to think about what they’d seen, there were tons of different stories about the scaffold. Most people swore they saw a SCARLET LETTER on the minister’s chest - looked just like the one Hester Prynne wore - burned into his skin. How it got there?

People had all sorts of guesses. Some said Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale started punishing himself the very day Hester got her badge. He kept trying to make up for it, but nothing worked.

Others thought Roger Chillingworth, being a seriously powerful wizard, made it appear later, using magic and weird drugs.

Then there were those who understood the minister’s feelings - they believed the letter was a sign of his guilt, eating away at him from the inside out, until it showed up as a message from above. Take your pick.

We’re throwing all the info we could find at you, and honestly, we’d love to just forget about the whole thing. We’ve thought about it so much, it’s stuck in our heads, and it's not a good vibe.

It’s wild, though, that some people who were there - who swore they never took their eyes off Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale - said they didn’t see any mark on his chest, not even a tiny one like a baby’s.

And, according to them, he never even hinted, not once, that he had anything to do with the guilt Hester Prynne had been wearing the scarlet letter for.

These super-respectable witnesses said the minister, knowing he was dying - knowing everyone already thought of him as a saint or an angel - wanted to show the world that even the best people aren't all that great.

After dedicating his life to helping people’s souls, he chose to die in Hester’s arms, like a lesson for everyone. He wanted to teach them that, in the eyes of something perfect, we’re all sinners.

That even the most holy person just sees a little clearer how much mercy there is, and totally rejects the idea that anyone deserves praise.

We’re not arguing with something so important, but we gotta admit that this version of Mr .

Dimmesdale's story is just one example of how fiercely a person’s friends - especially a clergyman’s - will defend their character, even when the proof is as clear as the sunlight on the scarlet letter, showing them to be a flawed, sinful person.

The source we’ve mostly relied on - an old manuscript put together from what people told each other - backs up what we said earlier. Some folks knew Hester Prynne, others just heard the story from people who were around back then.

There are tons of lessons to take away from the poor minister’s rough time, but we’ll just stick with this: "Be real! Be real! Be real! Show the world something - not necessarily your biggest flaw, but something that hints at it!"

It was wild how much Roger Chillingworth changed, practically right after Mr. Dimmesdale died. All his strength, his energy - everything - just seemed to drain away. He seriously withered, shrunk, and almost disappeared, like a weed ripped out of the ground, drying up in the sun.

This poor guy had built his whole life around revenge. Once that revenge was complete, once there was nothing left for him to do - no more evil to fuel - he just faded away. It was like he went off to wherever his boss had more work for him, and a paycheck waiting.

But we gotta cut these shadowy figures - Chillingworth and all - some slack. It’s kinda crazy to think about whether hate and love are really the same thing deep down. Both take a lot of closeness and knowing someone's heart. Both make you rely on another person for your feelings and your spirit.

When the person you love or hate disappears, you’re left feeling lost and empty. If you really think about it, those two feelings are basically the same, except one looks bright and good, and the other looks dark and scary.

Maybe, in the afterlife, that old doctor and the minister - both victims in this life - accidentally turned their hatred into love.

So, when old Roger Chillingworth died - that was within the year - his last will and testament, with Governor Bellingham and Reverend Mr. Wilson as executors, left a seriously huge amount of property, both here and in England, to little Pearl, Hester Prynne’s daughter.

Pearl - that elf-child, the demon offspring, as some people still called her - became the richest heiress around, no joke, in the New World.

It’s pretty likely this totally changed how people saw them; and if Hester and Pearl had stayed, Pearl, when she was old enough to get married, could’ve ended up with a super devout Puritan. But not long after the doctor passed, the woman with the scarlet letter disappeared, and Pearl went with her.

For years, there were rumors that floated across the ocean - like random pieces of driftwood with initials on them - but nothing confirmed ever came back. The story of the scarlet letter became a legend.

Still, it had a powerful hold, making the scaffold where the poor minister died and Hester Prynne’s cottage by the sea feel eerie. One afternoon, some kids were playing nearby when they saw a tall woman in a gray robe heading towards the cottage.

It had never been opened in all those years, but she either unlocked it, or the rotting wood and iron just gave way, or she just slipped through like a shadow - and she went inside, no doubt.

She paused at the doorway - turned a bit, like. The idea of going in alone, seeing everything so different, the place where she’d lived such a huge part of her life... it was just too much to handle. But she didn’t hesitate for long, though it was enough to show off the scarlet letter on her chest.

Hester Prynne was back, taking up her old shame! But where was little Pearl? If she was still alive, she’d be a young woman now. No one really knew - no one ever found out for sure - if the wild child had died young; or if her free spirit had calmed down and become capable of a woman's happiness.

But for the rest of Hester’s life, people noticed that the recluse with the scarlet letter was someone’s object of affection. Letters arrived, with fancy seals, though the designs were unfamiliar.

The cottage had comfortable, luxurious things Hester never used, but that only money and love could have provided. There were little trinkets, beautiful reminders of someone who always remembered her, made by delicate hands, from a loving heart.

Once, someone saw Hester stitching a baby outfit, with such a lot of golden detail that it would’ve shocked the town if an infant, dressed like that, had been shown around.

Basically, the town gossips thought - and Mr .

Surveyor Pue, who checked things out a century later, believed - and even one of his recent replacements in office still believes - that Pearl wasn’t just alive, but married, happy, and thinking of her mom, and would have totally welcomed that sad, lonely mother to her home.

But Hester Prynne had a real life here, in New England, more than Pearl did back home. This was where her sin happened; this was her sorrow; and this was where her penance would be.

She came back, totally on her own - no judge, not even the strictest one from that time, would have forced her to - and she wore the symbol we're talking about, the one from that dark story. She never took it off her chest again.

Over the long, tough, and self-sacrificing years of Hester’s life, the scarlet letter stopped being something everyone mocked and hated. It became a symbol of something sad, something to look at with respect and even a little awe.

Hester wasn’t about herself; she didn't live for her own fun or profit. So, people brought her all their problems and worries, asking for her advice - someone who's been through a lot.

Especially women - dealing with heartbreak, feeling used, feeling lost, or making mistakes - or carrying the weight of a lonely heart, one that wasn't wanted or appreciated - they’d come to Hester’s cottage, asking why they were so messed up and what to do.

Hester comforted them and gave them the best advice she could. She believed, and told them, that at some point - when the world was ready - in God’s timing - a new truth would come out, to build a better foundation for relationships between men and women, based on happiness for both.

Earlier on, Hester thought she might be the one to reveal that truth, but she knew it couldn't be a woman marked by sin, ashamed, or just weighed down by sadness.

Seriously, the angel and apostle bringing the new message has to be a woman. Like, a really amazing one - lofty, pure, and gorgeous. Plus, she needs to be smart, not in a sad, gloomy way, but with this bright, joyful vibe.

She’s gotta show how sacred love makes you happy, proving that a life well-lived is totally worth it!

"It's like this," Hester Prynne said, and looked down at the scarlet letter with sad eyes. Years later, a new grave was dug, close to an old, weathered one, in that graveyard where King’s Chapel stands now.

It was near the old grave, but with a space between, like the dust of the people resting there shouldn't mix. Still, one tombstone marked both. All around were fancy monuments with family crests.

On this simple slate slab - you can still see it if you look closely, and wonder what it all means - there was a carved shield. It had a symbol, and if you translated the herald’s words, it could be a motto and a quick summary of our story.

It’s pretty dark, though, and the only bright spot is a point of light, even gloomier than the shadows. "On a black background, a bold scarlet letter A."