The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects, events and people to show meaning within the novel. The symbolism is used to serve as a representation of the mistakes that Hester Prynne made in her life and to mark her development through life. Hawthorne's abundant use of symbolism is used to enhance the novel and leave the ending up to the reader's imagination. The scaffold, the forest and sunlight, the letter "A," and Hester's daughter Pearl all take on larger meanings as the book progresses.
             Many of the important symbols in The Scarlet Letter are associated with the setting. For instance, the main characters Hester Prynne, Pearl, Roger Chillingsworth, and Reverend Dimmesdale come together on the scaffold three times. The embarrassment that occurs all three times is supposed to punish Hester and make her repent of her sins, but it does not. The scaffold also represents open acknowledgement of sin. Both Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale confessed their sins to the public on the scaffold. To Dimmesdale, the scaffold represents the only place he can go to escape Chillingsworth.
             The forest and sunlight represent good and evil or light verses darkness. When Hester and Pearl were walking through the woods the sunlight appeared to run away from Hester. The sunlight represents purity, which is a quality Hester struggles to reach daily. The vanishing of the light represents the society's constant denial of Hester's acceptance because of her sin. The dark forest is symbolic of the world of darkness or evil. In the time period in which this novel takes place, the Puritans viewed the forest as an evil place where witches were. The forest also symbolizes a moral wilderness in which Hester has been lost in for years.
             The letter "A" is the most symbolic of all objects in The Scarlet Letter and changes meanings throughout the novel, showing the
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