Scarlet Letter Statements/ Discussion Questions by Kiana Parsons Chapter 1:
● The setting appears dreary and gloomy.
● Does you think the gloomy setting is used a foreshadowing tool?
● What do you think the rosebush symbolizes?
Chapter 2:
● Hester is introduced in the chapter as an adulterer.
● The scarlet ‘A’ on her chest publicly announces that she is an adulteress.
● Hester has a child from another man.
Chapter 3:
● Hester spots her husband, who sent her to America, but never followed her there from
England.
● Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, tells Hester that she must not admit that she knows him.
● Hester refuses to reveal the father of her baby.
Chapter 4:
● Hester and Chillingworth have a conversation.
● Hester believes Chillingworth is trying to poison her.
● Chillingsworth promises Hester he will have his revenge.
Chapter 5:
● Hester is released from prison and is allowed to leave Boston, but chooses not to.
● Hester remains alienated from the rest of the town.
● Hester is very talented at needleworking and is very successful and in demand.
Chapter 6:
● Pearl is an outcast in society, like Hester.
● The townspeople and Hester wonder is Pearl is an evil child.
● Pearl asks about the scarlet letter on her mother’s chest.
Chapter 7:
● Hester visits the Governor’s mansion to deliver a pair of gloves and to see if there is any truth to the rumor that Pearl may be taken away from her.
● On the way to the mansion. Hester and Pearl are attacked by a group of children.
● The townspeople reason that if Pearl is a human child, she should be taken away for her sake, but if she is a demon child, she should be taken away for Hester’s sake.
Chapter 8:
● Wilson tests Pearl’s knowledge of God, which she doesn’t even respond to.
● When Hester was asked why she should be allowed to keep Pearl, she says she will be able to teach her an important lesson about her shame.
● Hester is allowed to keep Pearl.
Chapter 9:
● Chillingworth has named himself the towns doctor.
● Dimmesdale has gotten increasingly ill and Chillingworth has moved in to his house to diagnose and treat him.

● The townspeople begin to suspect Chillingsworth of being the devil.
Chapter 10:
● Chillingworth tries to find the root of Dimmesdale’s illness and about his personal life, but Dimmesdale does not confide in him.
● Chillingworth is very suspicious of Dimmesdale.
● Chillingworth finds something of note on Dimmesdale’s chest, but we, the readers do not know what he saw.
Chapter 11:
● Chillingworth continues to mentally torture Dimmesdale.
● Dimmesdale feels such intense guilt, he begins to stay up late at night and see visions.
● Dimmesdale begins to physically torture himself by whipping, fasting, holding extended vigils, etc.
Chapter 12:
● Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold to repent his sins.
● Dimmesdale runs into Hester and Pearl. He links hands with them and when he looks into the sky, he notices a red flashing ‘A’ in the sky.
● The townspeople see the ‘A’ in the sky and assume is means angel, for the deceased governor Winthrop.
Chapter 13:
● Seven years have passed since Pearl’s birth.
● Hester has taken a more active role in society.
● People now view the ‘A’ on her chest to mean able as opposed to adulterer.
Chapter 14:
● Chillingworth continues to torment the minister, but Hester asks him to stop.
● Chillingworth now knows for certain that Dimmesdale was Hester’s lover and she feels it is time for him to reveal his true identity to Dimmesdale.
● Chillingworth has become physically and mentally gnarled; the very embodiment of evil. Chapter 15:
● Pearl gives herself a green ‘A’ on her chest to be like her mother.
● Pearl asks why Dimmesdale frequently hold his hand over his heart.
● Hester decides that Pearl is still too young to know the truth about her father.
Chapter 16:
● Hester and Pearl wait to tell Dimmesdale the truth about Chillingworth’s identity,
● Pearl asks if