What Is The Forest In The Scarlet Letter

912 Words4 Pages

The forest is a way in which nature is used to help illustrate what each character is thinking and how they express their feelings during each chapter of the story. The Forest has allowed Hester to have freedom from the letter “A” that society damaged upon her. In the Forest, she had the ability to take off the letter and be her natural self. After times have passed, Pearl cannot get over the fact that "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 160). 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 …show more content…

Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale best describe themselves when they are in the forest. As Pearl is in the forest, she notices that Nature is blocking her from getting to her mother because of the choice she has made. For Hester, she notices that nature is present and loves her when the scarlet letter is not present. Dimmesdale finds himself best when he is alone because he does not want others to explore and discover what he has been doing to himself. Throughout the story, Hawthorne used clues to let the reader know that Dimmesdale is torturing himself and performing many dangerous acts to punish himself because he sees what Hester is going through. Society is based on how groups of people relate to each other in a community. At many points in time, all of the characters prove the fact that Nature also expresses their feelings. Theodore Roethke once said "Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley." This quote best relates to The Scarlet Letter because all of the characters make their own paths to succeed and show the readers who they are for themselves. Nathaniel Hawthorne makes the reader