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How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Similes In The Scarlet Letter

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Novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, argues that love and hate are indistinguishable. He supports the claim by integrating similes, utilizing antithesis, and including juxtaposition. Hawthorne’s purpose is to persuade readers that love and hate share similar ideological feelings in order to authorize adults harboring vengeful feelings to forgive those who are causing them. He adopts an ambiguous tone for the feeling of self-reflective contemplation. Hawthorne uses similes to compare the life of Roger Chillingworth to a, “wilting” and “uprooted weed.”He does this to address that love and hate are interchangeable. This allows the individuals that harbor conflicting emotions of revenge during their life to triumph above this feeling through self- reflective contemplation. Hawthorne uses Chillingworth's life to demonstrate the result of what vengeance can do to a man. He uses similes to make a clear comparison of ideas the reader may be able to associate with their lives in order to comprehend the lesson Hawthorne intends. He reminds the audience with an ambiguous tone of what Chillingworth’s life formally was before he …show more content…

He strives to shine light on comparisons between the two. Hawthorne uses antithesis to appeal to the audience that love and hate are more comparable than individuals comprehend. Antithesis is the most effective device for his audience because love and hate are conflicting complex emotions adults that resonate with revenge are able to experience. This presents a question Hawthorne intends the audience to contemplate. The acquisition of an ambiguous tone enables the audience to ponder this concept and permits them to forgive those who have caused vengeful harboring emotions to

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