The Scarlet Letter (ch. 7-8)

     I can't imagine having been ostracized from my society because of having a child out of wedlock, having that child as my only companion, and then being threatened to have the child taken away from me.  I would be desperate at this point, as Hester is.  When she pleads for Dimmesdale to speak for her and her child, it's almost like begging him to do something since he has been absent from her public suffering and has kept his sin, the same sin she is being punished for, to himself.  Dimmesdale bears no consequences for the same sin that Hester is being punished for.  If I were Hester, I too probably would have been losing my faith at this point and been tempted to turn away from God, who seems to have turned away from her.  However, Dimmesdale's eloquent words saved Hester and her child from being split apart, which gave Hester a small glimpse of hope that God may still be with her.  If that is the least Dimmesdale can do, I suppose it was the best that could come out of this situation.