page 101-2. Beginning "'O, not so! -not so!' continued Mr. Dimmesdale... let us leave them as Providence hath seen fit to place them!'"

I find this quote to be extremely peculiar in that it is very different from the rest of the novel. While in the majority of the novel, Hester is shunned and condemned, in this passage Dimmesdale provides for a method in which Hester's soul can be saved. In addition he places the burden of raising the child to have a clean soul upon Hester, her form of repentance. He also seems to be telling Hester that she is fortunate to be able to save Pearl, and thus herself. Dimmesdale on the other hand is sentenced to Hell irregardless. Dimmesdlae claims that God has sent Pearl as a way of saving Hester, and that it would be cruel to separate Pearl and Hester. So I find that this quote is extremely odd. It shows a bit of kindness by someone to Hester (albeit her lover and the father of her child, so he probably has an ulterior motive to ensure his daughter is raised properly)

Overall, not a bad book. It is certainly more enjoyable than the majority of what the transcendentalists wrote.