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Scarlet Letter Weeds Symbolism

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In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays that flowers and weeds can symbolize people’s guilt because of their sins, and expresses the importance of confessing and repenting for the sins that people commit. Outside the prison was a “wild rose bush” that offered “fragrance and fragile beauty” (44) as each prisoner entered, “in token that the heart of nature could pity and be kind” (44) to the criminal. The wild rose bush outside the prison symbolizes the hope and comfort offered in the time of doom and despair that lies within the prisoners. Dancing up and down, Pearl, “gathered wild-flowers, flinging them, one by one, at her mother’s bosom” (89). The flowers here symbolize Hester’s guilt for her sin and how she doesn’t feel any acceptance …show more content…

Because of Hester’s guilty heart, Chillingsworth explains that, “all the powers of nature call so earnestly for the confession of sin, that these black weeds have sprung up out of a buried heart” (122). Chillingsworth's description of weeds symbolizes Hester’s need for repentance and release from judgement and shame. Hester’s heavy heart causes nature to beg her to confess her sin. To urge her to repent, more guilt settles into her heart. The rose bush outside the prison symbolizes Hester’s need for acceptance and repentance by offering her their fragrance and beauty. The fragrance and beauty of the roses often instills peace and comfort into the prisoners as they enter or leave the prison, and gives some relief from their guiltiness; something that Hester is still trying to find. When Pearl was throwing wild flowers at her mother’s bosom, her innocence kept her from realizing the meaning behind her actions. The flowers symbolize Hester’s pain and suffering so throwing the flowers at the scarlet symbol, made Hester feel even more isolated and ashamed. The black weeds symbolize the guilt that is always instilled into Hester’s heart. Nature planted the black weeds to urge Hester to repent and confess her sin. The symbols conveys the theme that people need to repent for their sins so that they can

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