The only light in the dark atmosphere is a rosebush growing by the prison door. The narrator uses this rosebush to symbolize a "sweet moral blossom" in his story, and to provide some relief in the "tale of human frailty and sorrow." .
The crowd watches as a beautiful young woman, Hester Prynne, steps out of the prison threshold into the sunshine, carrying a young infant in her arms. She slowly, almost defiantly, walks to the scaffold, where she is to stand and endure public taunts, remarks, and stares. The most remarkable feature of her, besides her beauty, is the elaborately sewn letter on her bosom; a scarlet "A" stitched with gold thread. Through the crowd's remarks and the narration of Hester's thoughts, it can be concluded that the scarlet letter stands for "adulteress." Hester has been accused of adultery and the small child in her arms is illegitimate. .
In the third chapter, a small, deformed man accompanied by an Indian is identified in the crowd. As Hester's eyes search the gathering of people, she recognizes him and a look of horror flashes across her face. Soon recognition appears in his face too, as he sees her standing plainly on the platform. As the book describes it, " his look became keen and penetrative. A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed interpolations in open sight. His face darkened with some powerful emotion, which, nevertheless, he so instantaneously controlled by an effort of his will, that, save at a single moment, its expression might have passed for calmness." The latter turns away and begins inquiring about Hester. He kindly asks a townsman what offense Hester has committed, and why she must be punished. The townsman explains that the woman arrived two years ago in the town and was to wait for her husband, a learned Englishman, to join her. Her husband, however, never reached the town in time, and the town's consensus is that he has been lost at sea.