Theme Of Nature In The Scarlet Letter

Scarlet Letter Analysis

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, was published in 1850 and has become one of the most famous books in literature history. The Scarlet Letter starts when a young woman who committed adultery is being shamed by the town, her punishment -- to were a bright red “A” and the bosom of all of her shirts, for the rest of her life. Throughout the book Hester becomes stronger, this is due to the fact that the town as shamed her. Pathetic Fallacy reflects the idea that we need society to guide us and while nature makes us feel good, it is useless and can’t guide us to make good decisions. Nature reflects the way a person feels, but can’t give them any guidance. In the beginning of the book, Hester Prynne is being shamed by the whole town, Hawthorne writes that Hester sees someone she knows walking along the edges of the forest, we later find out that the man she sees is Roger Chillingworth. Hawthorne portrays Chillingworth as evil, because he came from the forest, and in the book, nature is evil. Toward the middle of the book Hester was in the forest and she took her “A” off and also let her hair down, she grew very happy, thus causing the forest to become happy. Hawthorne is illustrating the fact that nature reflects our mood. Pearl was the type of child to run and play until her heart gives out, when she plays outside, Hawthorne portrays the forest as happy as well, hence stating that the forest shows a parallel feeling with a person. Hawthorne