Chapters 20-22 mainly focus on the buildup to the climax of the novel. Up until this point, Hester and Dimmesdale have remained isolated from one another, not having the courage to meet with each other in private. They do meet, and the decision has been made to travel back to England, where they will not be scrutinized for what has happened to them like they would in Mass Bay Colony. Dimmesdale still has to give one last sermon, and the next two chapters focus on the execution of the sermon.
Hester stands at the foot of the scaffold in this scene, an ironic circumstance. It was at the scaffold where the plot line of the book starts, and it appears it is on the scaffold where the story virtually ends. The scaffold is a motif in the novel, representing the acknowledgement of sin. It was here where Hester and Pearl were shown together in front of a pious crowd, where Dimmesdale stood alone at night, looking out to the night sky in shame, and where he would also give his final sermon that exposes him as a sinner. Even Hester can feel the impact of where she is standing: "During all this time, Hester stood, statue-like, at the foot of the scaffold. If the minister's voice had not kept her there, there would nevertheless be an inevitable magnetism in that spot, whence she dated the first hour of her life of ignominy[...] her whole orb of life, both before and after, was connected with this spot, as with the one point that gave it unity." (Hawthorne 218) Hester is able to identify that there is a connection between her and the scaffold, where her shame started, and where it would have hopefully ended. She admits here whole life was consumed by it, which was true, as without the initial embarrassment of standing atop the scaffold looking out into the crowd, into her husband's eyes, and knowing that her one act of defiance could lead to a life of hell. In this specific scene however, Hester is not shown on the scaffold, but outside its parameters, a position that shows her detachment form that punishment, for she is no longer the center of attention upon the scaffold, but she is with the crowd, witnessing the events from a spectator's eyes.Another interesting aspect of chapter 22 is what Pearl is doing while her mother is at the foot of the scaffold. Throughout the novel Pearl is shown as a different child, one that has the potential to become a witch due to her unfortunate ancestral sins. She is called the Devil's Child by some, and we see the dark aspect of her at times when she throws a tantrum at other kids. However, she is also shown as a very astute, bright child, who radiates playfulness. We see that here when she is depicted as a hummingbird whizzing its way around the crowd. Her movement is described as sharp and irregular, like a hummingbird, a bird that is colorful beyond all the others, and illuminates everyone she goes near. This is evident by the sailor that tried to kiss her, before telling her news about Chillingworth. We can see the light, "illuminating" imagery of Pearl here, but we can also see the dark part weaved in as well, as Pearl mentions herself as the Devil's daughter to the sailor, in a way to threaten him case he did anything blasphemous.
This scene of Hester at foot of the scaffold reminded me of the movie Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. In this scene, Hester is at the origin of her trouble, where she was branded with the Scarlet A, and forced to lead a life of ignominy for maybe all of eternity. But the A came to symbolize "Able" instead of "Adultery", so in a way Hester was able to redeem herself. In the movie, the protagonist Frank Abagnale, leads a life of treachery and mischief, only to be arrested overseas. He escapes and the first place he goes to is his mother's home. His mother and father represented the start of his life of thievery, as they were divorcing and he wasn't ready for it. Back in America, he is confronted with that horrible and surrenders. Him being there though, and surrendering, allowed the government to free him from jail and start a life of innocence, working for the anti-fraud agency. His last words before arrest "Get me in the car. Get me in the car please! Get me in the car" after he sees mis mother again, with a new family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mySdh-wF7Wk
I like the focus on how as the novel begins to resolve as Dimmesdale tells of his sin to the public how connected it is to the earliest moments of the scaffold's part in the novel. Even though it is Dimmesdale on the scaffold and Hester Prynne at the bottom instead, it still shows how things are connected because Dimmesdale is revealing that he too is a sinner who committed adultery, the sin that Hester is guilty of. It also shows how even though Hester could have run away at any point, she stayed as she, like Dimmesdale, wanted to see this to the end.
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