chapter 21
"In the DARK nighttime he calls us to him, and holds thy hand and mine, as when we stood with him on the scaffold yonder! And in the deep forest, where only the old trees can hear, and the strip of sky see it, he talks with thee, sitting on a heap of moss! And he kisses my forehead, too, so that the little brook would hardly wash it off! But, here, in the SUNNY day, and among all the people, he knows us not; nor must we know him! A strange, sad man is he, with his hand always over his heart!"
evident here:
dark/no people = D. reveals himself
sun/crowded = D. denies his status
D. does not want to reveal his secret, afraid of people's reaction, as we said more than once.
Besides, it seems here that the dark (forest=dark for puritan society) comes when they are together, because they commit sin. and sin is evil, so it's dark...
Perhaps the sin is the inability to reveal yourself to God and society.
ReplyDeleteThink about how Dimmesdale revealing himself at the end of the book actually helps to change the society.
ReplyDelete