13 Doors, No. 3: The Scarlet Letter, Revisited

In January, we began this series using one of Hekate's keys, the number 13. The first door we unlocked with this key was Chapter 13 in The Scarlet Letter, receiving the message:

There Is More...

In the second half of Chapter 13 in The Scarlet Letter, the description turns from external interactions and others' viewpoints to Hester's experience and struggles further along the narrow way.

Standing alone in the world—alone, as to any dependence on society, and with little Pearl to be guided and protected—alone, and hopeless of retrieving her position, even had she not scorned to consider it desirable—she cast away the fragment a broken chain. The world’s law was no law for her mind.

Providence, in the person of this little girl, had assigned to Hester’s charge, the germ and blossom of womanhood, to be cherished and developed amid a host of difficulties. Everything was against her. The world was hostile.

Indeed, the same dark question often rose into her mind with reference to the whole race of womanhood. Was existence worth accepting even to the happiest among them? [...] As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down and built up anew. Then the very nature of the opposite sex, or its long hereditary habit, which has become like nature, is to be essentially modified before woman can be allowed to assume what seems a fair and suitable position. Finally, all other difficulties being obviated, woman cannot take advantage of these preliminary reforms until she herself shall have undergone a still mightier change [...]. Thus Hester Prynne, whose heart had lost its regular and healthy throb, wandered without a clue in the dark labyrinth of mind; now turned aside by an insurmountable precipice; now starting back from a deep chasm. There was wild and ghastly scenery all around her, and a home and comfort nowhere. At times a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to Heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide.

A Pivotal Moment

Through these struggles, Hester observes the plight of her ex-lover, caught under the heaviness of shame, guilt, secrets, and machinations. She decides to act on his behalf and prepares to confront her former husband.

The Message

The darkness rises, the veils fall. We see the chasms. In the silence the space for our own darkness increases, but our path passes through a hostile world.

In our journey to make things right we have grown in power and perspective. The flow of events is ours to turn.

1. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. 1850. Chapter 13: "Another View of Hester." In The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved from: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/127/the-scarlet-letter/2278/chapter-13-another-view-of-hester/.
2. hooks, bell. 1990. marginality as site of resistance. Retrieved from: https://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~mma/teaching/MS80/readings/hooks.pdf.