Scarlet Letter Pg. 121

Entry 28:

"But what distinguished the physician's ecstasy from Satan's was the trait of wonder in it!"

Chillingsworth and Satan or the 'Black Man' are compared through this entire book. Their main common ground is where they can take over someone's soul and mind. Satan knows when he wins someone's soul, and Chillsworth has a hint of wonder that engages him to torment someone's spirit. He knows something's up with Dimmesdale, and that's why he goes on with the gesturing to the black weeds, and the fact people should just be honest because it will save them in the long run. He can tell the that Dimmesdale is hurting, and he doesn't understand why he's doing that to himself. Chillingsworth stands by and tries to help Dimmesdale survive so he can watch his sins destroy him. 

Scarlet Letter Pg. 118

Entry 27:

"So she drew her mother away, skipping, dancing, and frisking fantastically among the hillocks of the dead people, like a creature that had nothing in common with a bygone and buried generation, nor owned herself akin to it."

Pearl not only earlier called Chillingsworth a "Black Man," but also told her mother that he could catch her and she needed to get away. The fact that it says that she has nothing in common with the dead people buried in the graveyard is quite wrong. The burial ground was an escape from the society that people lived in. Pearl had already escaped because of her mother's sin. She danced, and skipped throughout the graveyard because it showed freedom that she has, as to what the dead people have now. She dances for them because they didn't have the opportunity to show their freedom from the town.  

Scarlet Letter pg. 114

Entry 26:

"They are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime."

The black weeds growing from the grave are compared to Dimmesdale's hidden sin, and like his hurting heart, the weeds are the affects of sin. The dark hides wrongdoings, and sometimes when your hide a sin it hides who you actually are, which could be the cause of a missing tombstone. No one wants to remember a man that was dishonest to himself and everyone else. It's a foreshadow to that an unspoken sin killed the unknown man, so it could kill the unrevealed father. It would be better for him to be honest.

Scarlet Letter pg. 113

Entry 25: 


"Sometimes, a light glimmered out of the physician's eyes, burning blue and ominous, like the reflection of a furnace, or, let us say, like one of those gleams of ghastly fire that darted from Bunyan's awful door-way in the hill-side, and quivered on the pilgrim's face."


The comparison between light and fire is what makes this sentence quite complicated. Light is like heaven, where it represents the goodness and pureness of people, and is where truth can be shown through. Fire, is a comparison of the devil, the dark, where things are hidden, and the unknown. 'Burning blue and ominous' is giving the impression that something bad is going to happen, but because they included blue, which is the hottest of all fires, things could turn out a lot more corrupt. 

'Bunyan's awful doorway' is where Pilgrims pass the entrance to hell from which flames and smoke come out. It's all referring to the fact that Chillingsworth is the 'Black Man' or otherwise known as the devil. He has an evil spark in his eye that's determined to dig into Dimmesdale's heart searching for the truth.  

Scarlet Letter pg. 106

Entry 24:

"His first entry on the scene, few people could tell whence, dropping down, as it were, out of the sky, or starting from the nether earth, had an aspect of mystery, which was easily heightened to the miraculous."

The shooting star refers to the devil that was once God's foremost angel, but because he rebelled, he was thrown out of heaven. The star falling out of the sky is like the devil falling from heaven. The devil was Gods enemy, and because God is the fundamentals of the Puritan society, Chillingsworth being like the devil, will eventually end up being an enemy to the town.

Scarlet Letter pg. 105

Entry 23:

"In his Indian captivity, moreover, he had gained much knowledge of the properties of native herbs and roots"

Indians are another symbol of 'wild' and were outsiders to the Puritan society. The Indians lived in nature and because they lived in the forest, it was considered wrong. The forest is dark and unknown and there can refer back to the devil, or the fact that you can hide your secrets there.

Because this specifically mentions 'native' herbs and roots it can be compared to alchemy and magic which Chillingsworth had said before that he had 'sought gold in alchemy' (pg.69) This can allude to witches with magic, and then back to Mistress Hibbins. The fact that Mistress Hibbins is an outsider, just like the Indians, are also like Hester Prynne which there brings everything into full circle.

Words of The Day 11/3

Opaque: The opaque lesson of learning for the day was confusing to the class.

Propensity: Anna has a propensity to irritate me.