The Scarlet Letter
Discussion Questions
Chapter 5
 What is the symbolism of where
Hester chooses to live?
 How does the letter A change
meanings slightly in this chapter?
 What special power did Hester think
the A gave her?
Chapter 6 - 7
 From where did Pearl get her name?
 What makes the village think Pearl is
a demon child?
 What grabs Hester’s attention as she
stands in the hall of the mansion?
What does this signify?
 How is Pearl dressed? Significance?
 What 2 things does Pearl ask of
Hester?
Chapter 8
 How does Pearl respond when
interrogated by Reverend Wilson?
 How does Arthur come to Hester’s aid
in keeping her child?
 What symbolism do you see in the
scenes of the mansion and the
conversations?
Chapter 9
 Describe Arthur’s and Roger’s
relationship.
 What has happened to Arthur’s
health?
 What did the townspeople feel about
Roger?
 What tapestries are hanging in
Arthur’s room?
Chapter 10- 11
 Where does Pearl play? What is her
attitude toward her mother’s A?
 Describe how Roger’s appearance has
changed in these past three years.
 What plants has Roger gathered?
Symbolism?
 How does Arthur try to do penance?
 What is Roger looking for when he sneaks
into Arthur’s room? What do you think he
sees?
Symbols used in the book:
 Conventional:
 Scaffolding
 Gold
 Colors – red, black,
gray
 Darkness/light
 vegetation
 Rosebush
 Night/day
 forest
 Non-clichéd:










Letter A
Trees
Thresholds/doors
Water/brook in
forest
Windows/mirrors
Steps/levels
Triads
Moon/sun
Drapery/curtains
Reflections
Characters as symbols:




Hester
Arthur
Roger
Pearl
Chapter 12
 Where does Dimmesdale observe his
vigil?
 What item of Dimmesdale’s does the
sexton find?
 What is the sexton’s explanation of
how it came to be there?
Chapter 13
 How does the symbolism of the A
change throughout this chapter?
 How is Hester’s appearance
described?
 What does Hester resolve to do?
What is her intention in doing this?
 What is the significance of the
statement, “the scarlet letter had not
done its office.”?
WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert!
 Further chapter discussion questions
may spoil the novel’s plot.
 Read ahead of assigned chapters at
your own risk!
Chapter 14
 If the town leaders have debated whether
Hester may remove the A or not, why does
she refuse to remove it?
 How has Roger been transformed in the
past few years? Does Roger sense this
change?
 Does Hester admit the father of her baby
in this chapter?
 What is Hester’s goal in this conversation?
 What does Roger mean when he says
“germ of Evil” and “Let the black flower
blossom as it may.”?
Chapter 15
 As Roger walks away from her, what does
Hester imagine about him?
 What does she mean when she says, “he
has done me worse than I did him!”?
 What activity has Pearl been engaged in as
Hester and Roger talked?
 Is there any redeeming quality seen in
Pearl in this chapter? (yes, what is it?)
 What does Pearl make for herself? What
color is it? What does this symbolize?
 What lie does Hester tell Pearl? Why might
she say this?
Chapter 16
 Where does Hester plan to meet
Dimmesdale? Symbolism?
 What symbolism is seen in how the
sunshine treats Hester in this
chapter?
 What story has Pearl been told by
some of the towns people?
 What did Pearl ask About
Dimmesdale’s mark of the black man?
Chapter 17
 What is the 1st thing Dimmesdale notices
about Hester?
 What is the significance of Dimmesdale's
question to Hester, “has thou found peace?”
 What is Dimmesdale's reaction to Hester’s
news? What does this reveal about him?
 How do Dimmesdale and Hester seek
justification for their sin?
 Where does Dimmesdale turn to for
strength? (where should he turn?)
 What did Hester advice Dimmesdale to do?
Chapter 18
 What does It mean that “she had
wandered, without rule or guidance, in a
moral wilderness.”?
 What has Dimmesdale resolved to do?
 What does Hester do with the scarlet letter?
What does this signify?
 In the meantime, what has Pearl be doing
in the forest?
 Why is Dimmesdale so hesitant about
getting to know Pearl?
 The sunshine pours over Dimmesdale
and Hester – do they find pardon in the
forest?
Chapter 19
 How has Hester's appearance changed as
she’s been in the forest?
 What divides Pearl from Hester and
Dimmesdale?
 Why is it ironic that a child condemns them?
Symbolism?
 Hat bothers Pearl about her mother’s
appearance?
 Why is it necessary for Hester to retrieve the
letter herself? Why could Pearl not pick it
up?
 How does Pearl respond to Dimmesdale?
Chapter 20
 ** significance of quotation – “No man for any
considerable period can wear one face to himself and
another to the multitude, without finally getting
bewildered as to which may be the true.”
 Where had Hester and Dimmesdale decide to go ?
Why?
 What great change took place in Dimmesdale?
 Describe Dimmesdale's interview wit the old deacon,
the elderly lady, and the young girl.
 Describe Dimmesdale's encounter with Mistress
Hibbins.
 What does Chillingworth suspect about Dimmesdale?
Chapter 21
 What holiday are the people celebrating?
 How is Hester described? Location, etc.
 What observation does Pearl make about
Dimmesdale?
 What does the captain of the ship reveal to
Hester/ ? What does this say about her
plans? How have they been foiled?
Chapter 22
 What change is seen in Dimmesdale
as he walks in the procession to the
church?
 What does Pearl ask her mother
about the minister?
 What does Mistress Hibbins say
regarding Hester and Dimmesdale?
 What is the message given to Pearl
by the shipmaster?
Chapter 23
 How do the people respond to the
minister’s sermon?
 Where do they think he would soon
be going? In actuality, where does he
go after his sermon?
 Describe Dimmesdale’s revelation to
the people.
 Why would Roger attempt to stop
Dimmesdale's revelation?
Chapter 23 (con’t.)
 What do the following quotations mean?
Who says them?
 “hadst thou sought the whole earth over…there
was no one place so secret – no high place nor
lowly where thou couldst have escaped me –
save on this very scaffold.”
 “is not this better…than what we dreamed of in
the forest?”
 Why is it significant that sunshine finally
breaks over Dimmesdale as he is on the
scaffold?
 What gift does Dimmesdale give Pearl at
the end?
Chapter 24
 What were the various theories about
Dimmesdale's scarlet letter?
 What sentence is suggested as the moral
for Dimmesdale's story?
 What happened to Chillingworth?
 What did Pearl inherit? What probably
happened to Pearl?
 Describe Hester at the end of the novel.
Why does she return to Salem?
 What is the final end of Hester and
Dimmesdale?