Nevertheless, Dimmesdale adds to Hester’s plea when he states that Pearl is a “child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame” but still she has come from the “hand of God.” As such, she should be considered a blessing. The minister argues that Pearl will keep Hester from the powers of darkness. And so she is allowed to keep her daughter. Those powers of darkness can be seen in both the strange conversation with Mistress Hibbins and also in the change in Chillingworth.
As if to prove that Hester will be kept from the darkness by Pearl, Hawthorne adds the scene with Mistress Hibbins. While Mr. Wilson says of Pearl, “that little baggage has witchcraft in her,” Hester says she would willingly have gone with the Black Man except for Pearl.
These dark powers are also suggested by the fourth main character, Chillingworth. The change noted by Hester in Chillingworth's physical appearance, now more ugly and dark and misshapen, is a hint that in the scholar's desire for revenge, evil is winning the battle within him and is reflected in his outward appearance. That Chillingworth is Dimmesdale's personal physician :and supposed friend gives him the opportunity to apply psychological pressure on the minister. Chillingworth’s comment on Dimmesdale's strange earnestness and his statement that he could make a “shrewd guess at the father” suggest that he may already have decided on Dimmesdale's guilt.
The battlefield has been marked: The forces of light and darkness are vying for human souls.
