In this chapter, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl leave the forest. Dimmesdale walks through town and he is acting weird. He doesn't help the people that come up to him and ask for help. He is afraid that he will tell them something wicked. He sees some of the men that work on the ship he will sail away on in a couple of days and he almost talks to them, but decided not too. Dimmesdale tells Chillingworth that he doesn't need anymore  medicine and Chillingworth gets suspicious of what he knows. Dimmesdale then starts to write his sermon for the next Sunday. 
   -There, on the table, with the inky pen beside it, was an unfinished sermon, with a sentence broken in the midst, where his thoughts had ceased to gush out upon the page two days before. He knew that it was himself, the thin and white-cheeked minister, who had done and suffered these things, and written thus far into the Election Sermon! But he seemed to stand apart, and eye this former self with scornful, pitying, but half-envious curiosity. That self was gone! Another man had returned out of the forest; a wiser one; with a knowledge of hidden mysteries which the simplicity of the former never could have reached. A bitter kind of knowledge that!
  -This passage is talking about his sermon and the change in Dimmesdale. He had started to write the sermon two days before but now he was a wiser person. Someone wiser and newer had come out of the forest. His old self was gone. 

In this chapter, Hester calls Pearl over. Pearl sees that the "A" is no longer there and this frightens her. She will not come to her mother until she puts the "A" back on. After Pearl gets to her mother, she kisses her mother and the "A". Hester wants Pearl to kiss Dimmesdale too but she refuses. Hester explains to her that he loves them both and Pearl says that if he really loved them he would stand on the scaffold with them where everyone could see. When Dimmesdale said no, Pearl got upset. She got away from her mother and went to the brook to wash her forehead. 
   -“Dost thou know thy mother now, child?” asked she, reproachfully, but with a subdued tone. “Wilt thou come across the brook, and own thy mother, now that she has her shame upon her,—now that she is sad?”
“Yes; now I will!” answered the child, bounding across the brook, and clasping Hester in her arms. “Now thou art my mother indeed! And I am thy little Pearl!”
  -This passage is when Hester realizes why Pearl won't come to her. She has to put the "A" back on to get Pearl to come over to her. Pearl says that after Hester put the "A" back on that she was her mother indeed and she was her little Pearl. 

In this chapter, Hester and Dimmesdale finalize their plan to move to Europe. Hester is happy that father and daughter will be able to know each other. She tears off the "A" and throws it on the ground. She no longer was troubled by the "A". Soon after this event, the sunshine came back over her. Pearl had mentioned earlier that the sunshine was afraid of what was on her bosom, and now that it was off, the sun shone on her again. Dimmesdale says that he hasn't felt this much joy in a long time. Hester called Pearl over and she came over slowly. 
    -So speaking, she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves.
    -This is the passage when Hester takes off the "A". A few moments after this the sun begins to shine on her again. The sun was afraid of what was on her bosom and now that it was gone the sun could shine on her again. 

In this chapter, Hester reveals the truth to Dimmesdale. She tells him that Chillingworth is her husband. After finding out this news, Dimmesdale blames Hester for his suffering. She buries his face in the "A" as if trying to show him some to the pain she has had to go through. He soon forgives her. They then plan to go to Europe as a family and raise Pearl there. Dimmesdale is worried that Chillingworth will reveal the truth about Pearl's father. Hester reassures him that he won't. 
   -“Then there is the broad pathway of the sea!” continued Hester. “It brought thee hither. If thou so choose, it will bear thee back again. In our native land, whether in some remote rural village or in vast London,—or, surely, in Germany, in France, in pleasant Italy,—thou wouldst be beyond his power and knowledge! And what hast thou to do with all these iron men, and their opinions? They have kept thy better part in bondage too long already!”
  -In this passage, Hester is planning to leave Boston. She says that the sea brought her there and it can surely take her back. She wants the minister to come back with her. She wants to be a family. 

In this chapter, Hester waits for Dimmesdale in the forest. Pearl tells her mother that the sunshine does not love her. She says that the sun is afraid of what is on her bosom. Pearl says that the sun is far off and that she wants to go see it. She says that since she is just a child, the sun will not shun her. She also says that the sun is not afraid of her because she does not wear anything on her bosom yet. Hester does not want Pearl to ever have to wear anything on hr bosom. The sunshine seems to shun Hester. Pearl wants to know about the "Black Man". She thinks that her mother has written her name in his book and that's why she has to wear the "A". They see someone coming and Pearl asks if it is the Black Man. Hester reassures her that it is just the minister. Pearl says that he might have been visited by the Black Man too because he hold his hand over his heart. 

In this chapter, Pearl makes her own "A". While Hester is talking to Chillingworth, Pearl finds some eelgrass and arranges it to an A the best she could. She put it on her bosom just like her mother's was. Pearl's "A" was bright green instead of scarlet. She then went to show her mother the "A" she had made. She was proud of her "A". Hester asks Pearl if she knows why she has to wear the "A" and Pearl said that she did know. But when asked again she said that she had told all she knew. Pearl wanted to know what the "A" meant and why the minister kept his hand over his heart. She continues to ask about the minister. 

In this chapter, Hester and Chillingworth talk. Hester tells Chillingworth that he needs to stop tormenting Dimmesdale. Chillingworth puts off a sense that he knows that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father. Hester picks up on this. Chillingworth says that there is talk about removing the "A" from Hester's bosom and Hester is appalled by this. She says that they both know that human authority cannot remove it. She hates Chillingworth's friendliness towards her. Chillingworth has lost his mind. All he think about it revenge and his face is started to look more evil. Hester says that he needs to forget about his revenge and return to being a human. Chillingworth did not listen to Hester.  

Chapter thirteen is about the change in Hester. The "A" no longer means "Adulterer". It now means "Able". Hester has become a big part in the town. She is no longer shy about her situation. She is now more aware that there is something not right with Pearl. She is starting to suspect that by keeping Chillingworth's identity a secret, she is hurting Dimmesdale. 
    -Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to sympathize,—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.
   -This passage is when the meaning of the "A" starts to change. When Hester becomes a greater part of everyday life, the "A" changes meaning. She is no longer reduced to the original meaning of the "A". She can now be part of regular society. 

In chapter twelve, Dimmesdale goes up on the scaffold. It is night time and nobody can see him up on the scaffold. Dimmesdale starts laughing and it is returned by Pearl's laugh. Hester and Pearl join Dimmesdale on the scaffold. The three hold hands and Pearl asks her father if he will stand on the scaffold with them tomorrow. Pearl wants everyone to know who her father is, but Dimmesdale refuses to stand up there with her. Dimmesdale says that he will stand up therewith her and Hester another time and Pearl pushes him to find out when. Dimmesdale tells her that they will stand together on the great judgement day. Dimmesdale then asks Hester who Chillingworth really is but since Hester is sworn to secrecy, she can't tell him. Then a meteor lights up the night. It is in the shape of an "A" and the town does not associate this to Hester but rather Winthrop. They say the "A" means "Angel" and that it's a sign that he made it to heaven. Chillingworth sees the three on the scaffold and comes to get DImmesdale down. The next day, a black glove is returned to Dimmesdale. The church says that Satan must have placed the glove on the scaffold 

In this chapter, Chillingworth starts to torture Dimmesdale. Chillingworth now knows that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father. Dimmesdale does not trust Chilingworth but he does not know why. He puts off these feeling of distrust. Dimmesdale preaches some of his best sermons during this time. Most of these sermons were on sin and he can sympathize with the weaknesses of others because of his own sin. Dimmesdale starts having visions. In one of these visions he sees himself, with Hester and Pearl, up on the scaffold. 
    -More than once, Mr. Dimmesdale had gone into the pulpit, with a purpose never to come down its steps, until he should have spoken words like the above. More than once, he had cleared his throat, and drawn in the long, deep, and tremulous breath, which, when sent forth again, would come burdened with the black secret of his soul. More than once—nay, more than a hundred times—he had actually spoken! Spoken! But how? He had told his hearers that he was altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity; and that the only wonder was, that they did not see his wretched body shrivelled up before their eyes, by the burning wrath of the Almighty!
  -This passage is saying that Dimmesdale going to the pulpit to confess his sin. He is saying that he is the worst kind of sinner, and he is wondering how they did not see it in him.