The Scarlet Letter Symbolism
Nathaniel Hawthorne is very good at using symbolism in the book the scarlet letter. The dictionary states that "symbolism is something that is or something else." This paper will explain what the symbols the A, Pearl, and the Scaffold in the scarlet letter mean.Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and important symbols. This device of symbolism is portrayed well in the novel, especially through the scarlet letter "A". The "A" is the best example because of the changes in the meaning throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, the scarlet letter "A" is viewed as a symbol of sin. The middle of the novel is a transition period, where the scarlet letter "A" is viewed differently. In the commencement of the novel, the letter is taken as a label of punishment and sin. Hester Prynne bears the label of the
She has grown stronger from it; she is able to withstand the pressures of society. It is because of this one letter that Hester's life is changed. Society places its blames upon this woman. On that spot, in very truth, there was, and there long had been, the gnawing and poisonous tooth of bodily pain"(136). The letter's meaning has changed, "Hatred, by a gradual and quiet process, will even be transformed to love, unless the change be impeded by a continually new irritation of the original feeling of hostility"(147). As she grows stronger, her personality becomes more opposed to being seen as a sinner. Society now sees Hester as a person who is strong yet bears a symbol, which differs herself. She stands on a plank where her punishment is given, "'Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone'"(59). She stands as a label of an outcast in front of society. The return of this letter, however, is beneficial to Hester. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right over his heart. The letter's refusal to be swept away, Pearl's refusal to join an unlettered Hester, and Dimmesdale insistence that Hester do what ever it takes to quiet Pearl, force Hester to reaccept the symbol of the sin she had wrongly divorced, and therefore allow Dimmesdale and Hester to share a mutual public shame. The letter changes from a symbol of sin to a more vague symbol. In this section of the novel, Hester's appearance is altered to where she is no longer seen as a person of sin.
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