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What Does The Meteor Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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Symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathanial Hawthorne, there were many different aspects that are used as symbols.
One symbol is the letter “A”. Hester got pregnant with a man that is not her husband and she was forced to wear a big letter A on her chest. The A that she was was big, beautiful, and made her powerful. Dimmesdale also had an A, but it was carved into his skin. No one knows if Dimmesdale put it there or if God put it there when Hesther got her letter A. There was one more incident where an A appeared. A meteor appeared in the sky in the form of a red A. Many people saw it, but they believed it had different meanings. Council people believed that it was there to stand for “Angel” for the governor that just died. Hester thought the meteor was there to represent her sins. Dimmesdale thought god put the A in the sky to punish him because he did not tell anyone about his sin. The A that Hester wore made her more powerful, she wanted to touch it, she had it where everyone could see it. Dimmesdale kept his A hidden, it was carved into his skin, and it made him weaker and made him feel ashamed by it. …show more content…

Pearl serves as a living symbol of sin. Because Dimmesdale would not openly accept her as his daughter (and as his sin) she would not openly accept him as her father. Pearl has been punished since she was a baby because of the sins of her parents’. Her mother was forced to hold her in the sun for 3 hours everyday, Pearl and her mother were forced to live on the outside of town, she didn’t get to play with any kids her own age, and other kids will point and make fun of her when she walks through town. She is an innocent child who is punished because of her parents

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