Symbolism In The Scarlet Letter

A symbol is used to represent an idea; often, a concrete object represents an abstract concept. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to represent the significance of numerous things. It is demonstrated throughout the entire novel. These symbols include the letter “A”, the sun, and the forest.

The most significant and influential symbol is the scarlet letter. In the second chapter, Hester (the protagonist of the novel) exits prison wearing the scarlet letter ‘A’. In the few years of his punishment, the letter was a reminder of shame. In the second chapter, Hawthorne writes, “ Hester Prynne had always this dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token; the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on the

Its importance eventually becomes evident as the book concludes but earlier parts are utilized to build its significance. Throughout the novel, the sun shines frequently on Pearl but never on Hester. Promptly, in chapter 18 Hester and Arthur are communicating in the forest. After planning to visit England and reside as a family (Arthur, Hester, and Pearl), Hester removes the scarlet letter to show that she no longer is bound by it. As Hawthorne writes, “ All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees.” (Pg. 2) The object that made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now. One can interpret this to mean that nature is happy with Arthur, Hester and Pearl. According to Natural Law, Hester and Arthur are not guilty as no longer are they oppressed. As God has control over nature, he is pleased with them. Although Hawthorne attempts convey this, his reasoning is incorrect. In the Ten Commandments, God informs his people that sdukery is a sin. Numerous say Hester and Arthur ever committed this act as Hester in their minds was never married. If they were not, others satin Hester and Arthur are not guilty would still be wrong. God states in the Bible that fornication (sex between two people who are not married to each

Hawthorne writes in chapter 4, “Art thou like the Black Man that haunts the forest round about us?” (Pg. 4). By stating this, Hester is sustaining the belief of the Puritans in the novel who observe the forest as “dark”, or “evil” as the place in which witches move to a night to initiate meetings. An interpretation behind the reason Puritans made up spread false rumors about the forest could be that they were initially keeping others from Natural law. Ultimately Hawthorne attempts to make the Puritans look bad. As stated, “Their immediate posterity, the generation next to the early emigrants, wore the blackest shade of Puritanism, and so darkened the national visage with it, that all the subsequent years have not sufficed to clear it up.“ (Pg. 3) The common interpretation Hawthorne attempts to get across infers that Natural Law is as equal as God's law and that the Puritans contain false beliefs. In reality however, Puritans Law is nearly equal to God’s law than Natural as seen in the novel. To conclude, the Puritans base their law but the Natural Law portrayed in the book is not based on God's