The Scarlet Letter and the Scaffold Experience

            The scaffold scenes are one of the most important events in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first scaffold scene occurred in the beginning of the story which was about Hester and the second scaffold scene happened in chapter 12 which was about Dimmsdale. In a "utopia" like the puritan's society, one can never get away after committing crime, in the end they get punished and pays for what they did and regrets it. The first scaffold scene in the scarlet letter focuses on Hester Prynne. The scene occurred in the morning sunlight. Hester on the scaffold with Pearl in her hand. Townspeople gathered to watch her on the scaffold and she, alone was facing it. People hated Hester. In this scene Dimmsdale wasn't with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold. This is the scene where Hester saw her old husband Roger Chilligworth disguise of an Indian. When the governor ask Hester, "who is the father of the child?" and also that, "He would consider taking the scarlet letter off of Hester, Chillingworth gestured not to say anything about her husband and Hester didn't. It was a shameful experience for Hester. "Ooh, now it's time for a description of the solemn way Puritans observe any act of punishment, from the execution of a hardened criminal to a child's whipping, all "solemnity of demeanour" and "meager and cold".
             The second scaffold scene focuses on Dimmesdale, the minister and Hester's lover. It occurred really early in the morning when the sun wasn't up and only few people awake. Nobody was aware of Dimmsdale's crime in this chapter. He had the scarlet letter on his chest. It's giving him pain and making him sick and weak inside. It made him scream loud but people ignored, as they thought it might be the witches' sound. He wasn't publicly humiliated on the scaffold. There weren't any single person to watch him. He wasn't questioned by anyone. He was loved by the town's people and everyone trusted him.