One day, Dimmesdale asked Chillingworth where he found a certain herb. On a grave, of course: "They grew out of the dead person's heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime". Maybe, Dimmesdale suggested, the man wanted to confess but could not. He said that the idea that the weeds sprang from a secret was unbiblical—definitely just Chillingworth's invention. Nobody would fear telling their secrets when they're dying, because in heaven, at judgment's gate, they will face the solution to the problem of sin. Okay, said Chillingworth, so why didn't people solve the problem on earth by confessing? Most people did, answers Dimmesdale, and they felt a lot better afterward. …show more content…
Dimmesdale suggested that some men, however, kept their sins secret because if they confessed, they would never again be able to do good for God. Chillingworth was just claiming that those men are fooling themselves, when Pearl laughs. The men looked out the window and saw Hester and her child passing by. Pearl was fixing burrs along the line of the scarlet A. She didn't pick them out, even though that has got to hurt. Chillingworth looked down at the cute little kid playing with her mom and declared that she's evil. The child looked up and threw a burr at Dimmesdale, who shrunk from being hit by it. Hester looked up, and the four individuals looked at each other. That's when Pearl yelled, "Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He has got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you! But he cannot catch little Pearl!". After that… chilling little exchange, the men kept talking. Did Dimmesdale think Hester was relieved from her burden of sin by the scarlet A? He