XVI. A Forest Walk Practice Quiz — The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: XVI. A Forest Walk
Why does Hester want to meet Dimmesdale in the forest?
She needs to reveal Chillingworth's true identity and fears his interference if they meet in the minister's study.
Where has Dimmesdale been before his return through the forest?
He has been visiting the Apostle Eliot among his Indian converts.
Why does Hester bring Pearl on the forest walk?
Pearl is necessarily the companion of all her mother's expeditions, however inconvenient her presence.
What does Pearl say about the sunshine and her mother?
Pearl says the sunshine does not love Hester and runs away because it is afraid of something on her bosom.
What happens when Pearl runs to catch the sunshine?
She actually catches it and stands laughing in its splendor, but the light vanishes as soon as Hester approaches.
What does the fleeing sunlight symbolize?
It symbolizes happiness, innocence, and divine grace that Hester's sin has placed beyond her reach.
Who is the Black Man in Puritan folklore?
A devil figure who haunts the forest with a heavy iron-clasped book, collecting signatures in blood and leaving marks on people's chests.
How did Pearl learn about the Black Man?
She overheard an old woman telling the story at a house where Hester was watching over a sick person.
What does Hester tell Pearl about the Black Man and the scarlet letter?
"Once in my life I met the Black Man! This scarlet letter is his mark!"
What does the forest path symbolize for Hester?
It images the moral wilderness in which she has so long been wandering, hemmed in and dark on either side.
How does Hawthorne describe the brook in the forest?
As having a babble that is kind, quiet, soothing, but melancholy, like the voice of a young child spending its infancy without playfulness.
How does the narrator compare Pearl to the brook?
Both spring from mysterious sources and have flowed through gloomy scenes, but unlike the brook, Pearl dances, sparkles, and prattles airily.
What quality does the narrator say Pearl lacks?
She lacks the capacity for sympathy; she needs a grief that should deeply touch her and thus humanize her.
What perceptive connection does Pearl make about Dimmesdale?
She notices his hand over his heart and asks if the Black Man set his mark there when the minister wrote his name in the book.
Why does Pearl ask why Dimmesdale doesn't wear his mark outside his bosom?
She is drawing a parallel between Hester's visible scarlet letter and whatever Dimmesdale hides beneath his hand, foreshadowing later revelations.
How does Dimmesdale appear when he finally emerges from the forest path?
He looks haggard, feeble, and listless, leaning on a staff, with a nerveless despondency more visible than in any public setting.
What does Dimmesdale's walking staff suggest?
He cut it by the wayside during his journey, suggesting a pilgrim's exhaustion and his need for physical support that mirrors his spiritual weakness.
What literary device does Hawthorne use when the sunshine "withdrew itself" from Hester?
Pathetic fallacy—attributing human intent and emotion to natural phenomena.
What is ironic about Pearl asking if the scarlet letter will come of its own accord when she is grown?
She innocently imagines sin as an inevitable inheritance, while she herself is the living embodiment of the act the letter represents.
Who is Mistress Hibbins in Pearl's Black Man story?
An ugly-tempered lady whom the old dame identifies as someone who has met the Black Man and signed his book.
Why does Hester avoid Dimmesdale's study specifically?
She dreads the secret or undisguised interference of old Roger Chillingworth, who has crept into the minister's intimacy.
What does Hawthorne mean by saying Pearl has a "hard, metallic lustre" to her character?
Her relentless vivacity and lack of sorrow give her an unyielding, almost inhuman quality—bright but without warmth or tenderness.
What does Hester instruct Pearl to do when she hears footsteps approaching?
She tells Pearl to go play but stay within hearing of the brook's babble and come at her first call.
What flowers does Pearl gather after leaving her mother?
Violets, wood-anemones, and scarlet columbines growing in the crevices of a high rock.