The Scarlet Letter: Chapter 24 Summary & Analysis

People came up with various explanations for the origin of Dimmesdale's scarlet letter. Some thought Dimmesdale carved it himself, as a penance. Others that Chillingworth, through magic poisons, brought it into being. Still others thought it developed naturally, from remorse. The town authorities stated that there had been no letter on his skin at all, and that Dimmesdale confessed not for a personal sin, but simply to teach his flock that all men are born sinners.

The narrator says the story he's told has one moral: be true, and show the world your worst, or at the least, "some trait whereby the worst may be inferred."

After Dimmesdale's death, Chillingworth lost his vitality and died within a year, leaving Pearl a share of his property in England and New England. No one knew for sure what happened to Pearl, but clues point to her having married a man, for love, in Europe.

Hester returned years later to her cabin in Boston. She lived there for many years before her death and still wore the scarlet letter, which had taken on its own legend over time. She was buried next to Dimmesdale. Their shared tombstone bore a single scarlet letter on a field of black.