The Recognition

The Scarlet Letter By: Nathaniel Hawthorne (pg.49-56)

This chapter begins with Hester still standing on the platform when something catches her eye. An Indian man stands on the outskirts of the crowd and with him a white man whom Hawthorne refers to as the stranger. The stranger finds himself staring at Hester, not at her letter but he looks at her as a person. Hester finds a strange comfort in looking at him as if all the other people in the crowd disappear. The stranger asks a towns person about the woman and why she must stand on the platform of the pillory. Through this dialogue we find that she must stand on the platform for three hours and then must wear the mark of an adulteress for the rest of her life. The towns person also tells the stranger that Hester's Husband does not live in the community but was to come to the colony shortly after her and has never shown up. In effort to once again find out who the father the infant, and the other sinner is, Reverend Dimmesdale and Clergyman Wilson question Hester again. Both men make attempts to convince Hester it is best and the right thing to do to call out the name of the other sinner. When Hester refuses a sermon is given and Hester still refuses to say the name of the man who is the father to her child. So then the three hours are up and Hester is brought back to jail.

I predict this will be a very influential scene that the rest of the story will build upon. Will Hester's husband ever return? Perhaps the stranger really does know Hester maybe he is her husband or even the father of her child. This hook of mystery gives few answers but leaves many questions.