Genre:

Novel, Serial, Abstract

Publications abstracted:

Hawthorne 1850

Subjects:

Astronomy, Prognostication, Observation, Providence, Mental Illness, Supernaturalism

    The narrator attributes a light gleaming in the sky to the appearance of a meteor, and observes that 'in those days [...] all meteoric appearances and other natural phenomena' which appeared 'with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon' were interpreted as 'so many revelations from a supernatural source'. Notes how the 'credibility' of the phenomenon 'rested on the faith' of an eye-witness whose imagination distorted what he had seen. Discusses the meanings given to the appearance of meteors, and insists that somebody regarding such a revelation as addressed to himself is suffering from a 'highly disordered mental state'. Thinks the latter applies to Dimmesdale, who claimed to see the first letter of his first name marked out by the meteor's scarlet light. (195) Dimmesdale also 'appeared to see' Chillingworth 'with the same glance that discerned the miraculous letter'. Later, and with a 'chill despondency', Dimmesdale yields himself to Chillingworth. (196)