How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Still there was silence. At last Hetty spoke, in a tone of beseeching—
"Dinah... help me... I can't feel anything like you... my heart is hard."
Dinah held the clinging hand, and all her soul went forth in her voice:
"Jesus, thou present Saviour! Thou hast known the depths of all sorrow: thou hast entered that black darkness where God is not, and hast uttered the cry of the forsaken. Come Lord, and gather of the fruits of thy travail and thy pleading. Stretch forth thy hand, thou who art mighty to save to the uttermost, and rescue this lost one. She is clothed round with thick darkness. The fetters of her sin are upon her, and she cannot stir to come to thee. She can only feel her heart is hard, and she is helpless. She cries to me, thy weak creature... Saviour! It is a blind cry to thee. Hear it! Pierce the darkness! Look upon her with thy face of love and sorrow that thou didst turn on him who denied thee, and melt her hard heart." (45.47-50)
Hetty here acknowledges that her criminal acts have hardened her. Her heart is a few sizes too small, just like the Grinch's. Yet Dinah does not believe that Hetty, who has "known the depths of all sorrow," is uncomprehending or hopelessly immoral. Again, just like the Grinch. Rather, Hetty's circumstances are so dire and fearsome that divine aid must be invoked. Or, if God isn't available, how about the people of Who-Ville singing a Christmas carol?