Chapter Seventeen
Entry Thirty-Eight
For the first time in this book, Hawthorne lets the readers participate in Hester's and Dimmesdale's love. They tell each other that they never forgot their love and start holding hands. The invisible power that held them off each other seems to be broken.
They sit down
"on the mossy trunk of the fallen tree."The tree is old, broken, destroyed and with age it has been overrun with moss. Moss appears when something stands still so it can make its way over this object.
This can symbolize Hester and Dimmesdale's sin. It happened long ago and made them both fall. And during this time they stopped moving (physically -> they didn't leave Boston; and mentally -> they couldn't let go of their thoughts of sin) but there was someone creeping around them: Chillingworth. He befell their souls and made them go under. Now that he has already covered them he can devour them including their souls and hearts.
Good insight on the moss. This symbol could reinforce the theme of love or the theme of sin.
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