What Does The Forest Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

Many authors use symbolism in literature, but Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to outdo the rest because he is tremendous at inserting symbolism throughout his novels. Hawthorne uses symbolism to allow the reader to interpret the story in many ways, as well as to show meaning towards the words in the book. Symbolism is a device in literature where an object represents an idea. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he masters the use of symbolism through nature, the scaffold, and Hester’s stigma.

The majority of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter comes from nature. The forest is often the place that Hester goes several times throughout the novel in order to escape the chaos of the Puritan judgement. The forest symbolizes complete freedom. “Overall,

The letter “A” has multiple meanings, and the meanings change through the eyes of society as the years go on. At the beginning of the novel, the “A” stands for adultery, but towards the end of the novel, the meaning changes to “able.” “...the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Seabrook 7). The Puritan citizens claim that “A” is used to offend Hester, but Hester takes pride in wearing the letter. “For the Puritans, it was to scorn Hester, but she in turn uses it as a symbol of her later actions and eventual redemption” (Thomson 11). Wearing the “A” was caused by Hester’s horrible sin, adultery. When Hester stands upon the scaffold the first time, she holds Pearl very tight over the letter. “...she holds Pearl in such a way as to conceal the letter on her chest, the embroidered A, for “adultress”” (Bloom 3). Hester will never be able to escape the fact that she committed this sin. “Whether she wears the external badge of shame, Hester will never truly be able to escape the social “stigma” of having once committed adultery; she will be forever branded by her neighbors as a notorious sinner…” (Evans 8). The second meaning of the scarlet letter was “angel.” On the night of Governor Winthrop’s death an “A” appears in the sky. The community views this “A” as angelic. This letter appears in the sky on the same night that Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold, admitting his sin with Hester and Pearl, without the Puritan community there. “Then there is a flesh of light in the sky- a meteor but, to Dimmesdale, it seems as though a gigantic red A appears directly overhead” (Bloom 9). Some of the Puritan citizens also begin to view Hester as an “angel” because of what she has given back to the community. “Her charity, goodness, and submission to the judgement