The Scarlet Letter .. Chapter Twentyone - The New England Holiday .. Post #47

“What a strange, sad man is he!” said the child, as if speaking partly to herself. “In the dark night-time, 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!” Here the comparison between dark and light is mentioned. In the dark, where noone else is, Dimmesdale reveals his secret, but in the daylight, where everybody can see him, he does not say something. Could this also be a comparison to Chillingworth and Pearl? Even though he does not want to reveal his secret to Chillingworth, he finds out. So the darkness knows. The light knows it too, but Pearl is probably not that sure, that he knows it.