The Scarlet Letter: A Good Book with a Terrible Ending

Although The Scarlet Letter did not meet my standards in terms of action, it was able to build up a sense of suspense, and by the end of the book it became a bit of a page turner.  By the end of the book I found that I was enjoying the book much more, but then the book ended abruptly and nothing was truly solved.  Although it seems that Dimmesdale confessed his sins while on the platform, he really did not.  He never directly said, "I committed adultery with Hester Prynne, and this girl, Pearl,  is my daughter."  I was hoping he would say that, but he didn't.   When Reverend Dimmesdale showed his chest to the crowd, I was hoping that there would be a scarlet  "A" on his chest, but again there was no confession or proof of adultery.  Then Dimmesdale died, which was a bit disappointing, but I did see it coming.  Roger Chillingworth then vanished, as did Pearl and Hester.  With all of the main characters gone, the book was never wrapped up properly.    

I believe it was Nathaniel Hawthorne's intention to leave the audience hanging without any definitive answers, but I felt that if he intended to do this all along, then his setup was wrong.  He allowed the audience to draw definitive conclusions by the middle of the book, but the book never directly confirmed nor repudiated any of the readers' conclusions.  I just wish things would have been wrapped up in a more direct manner.     

Comments

[Derrick R]

I felt the same way! By the end of the book I actually wanted to read it but then it just ended. I like books that solve all if not most of their problems in the end of the book. Also I hate it when the main characters are just dropped from the story line. Sometimes it builds an alternative story to one of the main characters but is usually never interesting.