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In The Scarlet Letter, the forest is a prominent symbol used throughout the book to represent freedom from society. The forest is where Dimmesdale and Hester chose to meet because it is secluded from the rest of the Puritan civilization. During their meeting, they discuss that they want to run away to Europe together to escape their current living situations. This is an example of how the forest is being used to represent freedom from society. It is where Hester and Dimmesdale feel they are free to speak about whatever they want, even plans of running away together, because they cannot be seen by their fellow townsmen.
While exploring the power of love and, manipulating people 's emotions the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written on the battle of someone who was convicted of being a sinner living in a puritan society. The Scarlet Letter was a very influential novel because it was like a change in time, because it’s so different from what we see today. The story talks about Hester, who committed adultery and instead of giving her the punishment of death, she got the leeway of public humiliation. Throughout the novel the author uses characterization, tone and symbolism to help the readers better understand. First, there were the characters that helped to connect the theme sin, crime, and punishment.
Symbolism Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne created symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter in order to develop the theme throughout Hester’s life. Hester is portrayed as a sheltered soul, shunned from society due to her adulterous acts. The red A and her daughter, Pearl, are symbols of Hester’s shame which she bares proudly despite society's harsh judgements. Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to develop themes, characters, and analogies in the Scarlet Letter.
In literature, motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that help inform the reader of the text’s major themes. Motifs are an important device used in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. This novel takes place in seventeenth century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. At the time, a young adulteress, Hester Prynne, must wear a scarlet “A” on her breast to mark her ignominy.
In the book The Scarlet Letter there are two main settings, the town and the forest. Both of them are very important for the main characters. The town is where a lot happens including where Hester and Arthur, the two main characters, sinned. It is also where they lived for most of their lives, dealing with the pain the sin has caused them. The town is where both Hester and Arthur die and where they are buried.
In the article “Three Orders: Natural, Moral and Symbolic” by Hyatt Howe Waggoner analyzes how three of the main importances of “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are natural, moral, and symbolic components of the story. “The Scarlet Letter” is a figurative novel that has a lot of comparisons to the natural, moral, and symbolic pieces of the Puritan community. Hawthorne uses several different items to represent natural, moral and symbolic pieces in his novel. Waggoner’s article shows that Chillingworth is closely in relation to the weeds and black flowers in the cemetery, the letter Hester wears around her chest is close in relation to the red rose, and Pearl is exceedingly close in relation to the wild rose bush next to the prison.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was concluded in a way that it brought more questions to the mind of the reader than answers. This is not only because there are pieces of the story that are seemingly left unanswered, but it is also because of literary techniques used throughout the novel that serve to convey a meaning beyond the story's surface, therefore leaving the reader with what they feel is an inconclusive ending. However the ending does not inappropriately concludes the work; the way the book was finished helps the reader think for themselves, which is important because when people come to their own conclusions about something, they tend to possess a much stronger a belief than if it were just handed to them by the
The Sunlight Christine Quinn once said, “...when you come out of hiding, in whatever way you’re hiding, you get to go out into the sunlight.” The significance of sunlight is crucial to the sustainability and well-being of human life on earth. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses sunlight to symbolize happiness, and it is also used to exemplify freedom. From the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays Hester as deprived of happiness.
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are a variety things that play an important role in the understanding of the story. One of the things that was very symbolic in the book was nature. The forest and the wilderness were linking natural elements together with human nature. Hawthorne was able to describe people physically and emotionally through this sense of nature. This is clear when he describes the lone rose-bush which symbolizes Hester and her sorrow, “If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own, the brook might tell of thee”.
Literary Devices in The Scarlet Letter Literary devices are often used to capture a reader’s attention in a text. Nathaniel Hawthorne used many different types of literary devices in his book The Scarlet Letter. He uses symbolism to give hidden meaning to elements in the story, conflict to make the story interesting, and allusion to make references to historical events (ex. biblical references). While reading The Scarlet Letter, the literary devices did not jump out at me, but now as I reflect upon them they help me understand the book well. Literary devices can make a passage have a whole different meaning.
Throughout the history of literature, forests or woods were used to symbolise a lost in morals or spirituality. The devil or The Black man was used to symbolise corruption or evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses forests and The Black Man to embody the spiritual and moral struggles of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The first time Roger Chillingworth appears to the readers, is during the first scaffold scene. He was deformed and hunchbacked.
In Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen, of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester recognizes her true hatred of Chillingworth just before she finds Pearl, playing at the beach, and creating a green letter A on her own chest out of seaweed. Later, Hester goes to hopefully “run into” Dimmesdale in the forest to reveal to him the truth about Chillingworth’s identity. Pearl comes along, and as they wait, she curiously asks her mother about the Black Man. When Pearl sees Dimmesdale’s figure appear in the distance, she asks whether the approaching person is in fact the Black Man himself, which Hester rejects. Pearl, however, ponders if Dimmesdale clutches his heart, as he does, because the Black Man has left his mark on him, similar to how the
Nathaniel Hawthorne did not always speak positively toward the Puritans, but he has respect for the group. The main symbol that stands out is the scarlet letter “A” that was stuck on Hester Prynne for her actions of adultery which is a theme for this book. Another symbol is the rose bush that grew right outside of the old, rusty, decaying prison
The master of symbolism in American literature was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of his novels represents worlds imbued with the power of suggestion and imagination. The Scarlet Letter is often placed alongside Moby Dick as one of the greatest novels in the English language. Not a single word is out of place, and the dense symbolism opens the work up to multiple interpretations. There are discussions of guilt, family, honor, politics, and society.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne effectively conforms to the conventions of the gothic genre for the purpose of characterizing the Puritan society as oppressive, portraying the hypocrisy found within the society and highlighting the consequences for not confessing
