"A true symbol is substantial, not accidental. You cannot avoid it; you cannot remove it." Saul Bellow Write an essay showing why the scarlet letter A is or is not a "true symbol."
             Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many strong symbols through out his novel The Scarlet Letter to convey his ideas, themes and morals. All of Hawthorne's symbols are very deliberate and concrete. His prevailing symbol in the novel is the scarlet letter A. Hawthorne uses the A in a variety of forms to show meaning and main ideas. Because of the letter A's multiple significance and it's everlasting presence in the novel it is a true symbol.
             The scarlet letter A is true symbol in that it is inescapable by Hester. At first Hester tries to hide the letter with her crying infant but she realizes "that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another." (60). She could not avoid the truth that the embroidered letter on her breast told the crowd. From that say on, through the rest of her life, Hester allows herself to remove the letter A only once and only briefly. Even when the practice is no longer in use and not even the strictest magistrate would make her wear it, Hester wears the letter A until the day of her death because it has the history and meaning of her life, so she cannot remove it.
             The one time Hester does take her letter A off she was in the woods planning to run away with Dimmesdale. For a moment, she was under the illusion that she could leave Boston and forget what had happened and what the A had taught her about sin, truth and punishment. However, neither Hester nor Dimmesdale could ever leave. Dimmesdale was too intimately involved in the Puritan community. For Hester Boston "had been her sin, here her sorrow and was yet to be her penitence." (244). Hester is only able to remove the scarlet letter A for a brief moment because Pearl cries and wi
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