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What Does The Deep Red Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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Hawthorne uses symbolism throughout the Scarlet letter to display the sin and indecency people see Hester as. The detail represents ,the deep beauty Hester has inside although most people do not see her as a beutiful women. The deep red is a representation of adultery which shows her being an oncast from society. The symbol of the letter “A” is repetitive throughout the novel and grows with Hester and overcomes this with time as people start to see her as a person again and not just a adulterer.

Hester acknowledges her sin in her puritan faith but swears to secrecy on the father of Pearl. She still believes in her faith and wants her daughter to grow up in the faith and not to be disappointed by her desires to the world but to focus on her faith and heavenly father. She speaks to the townspeople but Dimmesdale is in the crowd. This causes conviction of him and guilt of not speaking up ultimately leading to him stepping out on the …show more content…

It reveals how the character Dimmesdale evolves as time progresses, in the beginning he asks Hester to stand with him so he can confess his sins but only for a minute because he doesn't want to admit the sin. This adds to the guilt that increases with time but also foreshadows his final coming out with the truth and death caused by this action.

Hester's past will always be apart of her although others have forgotten about the sin that tore her life apart. The scarlet letter becomes apart of her and also turns into a symbol of redemption and how she overcame the difficulties in her life. Although she was emotionally tormented as a young woman she was able to overcome and become a light to others. Hester did not only live a happy life she continued to wear the “A”

which showed her individualism and path to be reborn through the enlightenment of her

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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.

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Since Hester's sin was known to all her community she began her work for purification. "... Hester bestowed

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More important than its meaning is the letter’s connection to the mark of the Black Man. The letter is a symbol of Hester’s sin, a mark telling society to stay away because of the awful evil she has committed. However, this letter A is also the mark of the Black Man. According to the “old dame[,] … [the] scarlet letter was the Black Man’s mark,” (277-278) , a symbol of one’s allegiance to the powers of evil. Hawthorne purposefully instills this connection, and forces the reader to more closely at the parallel.

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The Scarlet Letter is a story that signifies the treachery behind the sin of adultery. Arthur Dimmesdale plays a key part in the book, since he is guilty of the sin himself. Dimmesdale is seen in the first scaffold scene, looking as pale as death, for he is aware of his sin, but is too cowardly to confess and share the public ridicule with Hester. A few years pass and in the second scaffold scene, Dimmesdale is more reluctant to confess his guilty thoughts, but he merely gives himself a private confession still too guilty to come clean. However, several days after, Dimmesdale greets the crowd of people, witnesses in the third scaffold scene, with his confession for being the reason Pearl, Hester's daughter, exists.

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Hawthorne cleverly uses the main characters name for an opportunity for symbolism naming her Hester which is very similar to Hestia the Greek goddess of hearth, agriculture, and the right ordering of domesticity the family and the state of Greek mythology(Lei 2164). By doing this Hawthorne is comparing her to a goddess that had a substantial amount of admiration. The scarlet letter A is one of the most symbolic items in the book, because of this solely letter Hester is able to grow and become the woman she is that aids others and loves all. The reason behind this is because of the letter

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The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of a misguided women who fails into the trap of love. Through the use of symbolism, Hawthorne presents the development of characters such as Hester and Dimmesdale; this in turn helps prove the idea that people can change over time. The symbol of the letter A aids with the development of Hester. The letter A, in the beginning of the novel, embodies the sin that Hester has committed.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a multitude of imagery and symbolism to serve as metaphors for different themes in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The theme sin versus guilt, appears often throughout the novel. It is often accompanied by the symbol of the scarlet letter, serving as a constant reminder of the guilt each of the main characters carry, as a result of the sins they have committed. Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale each carry the burden of living a tainted life, being that they have all committed a sin. Hester and Dimmesdale both committed the ultimate sin of adultery.

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Ambiguity in the Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, ambiguity is used to enrich the definition of the conflicts and symbols throughout it. Hawthorne leaves the meaning of the letter “A”, the true father of Pearl, and the cause of the mark on Dimmesdale’s chest left to be answered to provide a deeper understanding of the views and flaws of Puritan Society.

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This essay will discuss how the symbol “A” or the Scarlet Letter is represented in three different interpretations in the novel. In the novel The Scarlet Letter the letter “A” was originally intended to be a punishment for the main character Hester Prynne. She committed adultery as was branded with the “A” as public humiliation. Although she was branded as an adulteress, she continued to help others.

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The idea of finding the light in the Darkness is characterised through many settings, characters, and conflicts throughout the novel. Hester and Dimmesdale go through multiple internal/external conflicts while finding their hope and peace of mind in the story. They confide in this hope through multiple accounts throughout the narrative. They mainly find this desire in the Rosebush located next to the Prison door, The Forest, and even The Scarlet letter itself. The hardest part about a negative or difficult situation is finding the courage to get out of that perverse environment.

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Even though the Puritans may have designated the letter as a representation of sin, Hester’s renewed sense of pride does not want society to define the A for her. Rather Hester wants to define it herself and by doing so she develops responsibility and power over her own actions. Because Hester has the power to change who she is, she also has the power to change what the Scarlet Letter represents. By letting the letter be “embroidered with gold thread” readers are able to see how for Hester sin is not something to be fearful of; furthermore, it allows one to see how Hester has developed into an independent individual who accepts who she is and the situation she is presented with. Hester’s lover unfortunately

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While Hester is in the Forest, she notices that she is only accepted for who she is when the "A" is not present. In this case, Nature plays a part in this because it is acting around her. Hester cannot believe that

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but she didn't because she could support herself. The money she received she decided to give it to the poor. Hester liked the “A” because it made her stronger . The letter “A” changes in the story not just to hester but to everyone in the book.

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In this novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolic significance of the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth to contribute to the theme of guilt. To begin, Hawthorne uses the Scarlet Letter to portray the theme of guilt. In this scene Hester Prynne is walking onto the scaffold for the punishment of the sin she has committed. The women in the crowd are talking about how Hester deserves a worse punishment. The Scarlet Letter is the A on Hester’s bosom to tell the public she is an adulterer, bringing her judgement and guilt everyday.

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Receiving the scarlet letter changed every aspect of Hester’s life. Especially at the start of the story, the letter symbolized the solitude and great suffering Hester faced just because of a letter placed on her bosom. The “A” also depicted how no one viewed Hester the same way as before her peccant actions. “…she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorne 109). The pejorative community Hester lived in never saw Hester as the beautiful, young woman she was, but now, as a horrible fiend.

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