Question: How does Hawthorne build terror in "The Scarlet Letter"?
             Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is mostly remembered as a romantic romance story about a Puritan woman and a minister who falls in love, but is regrettably separated by the act of adultery. However, there is more than just a fairytale love story involved with the infamous "The Scarlet Letter". It contains little jollity while at the same time portraying a densely dark and dismal setting. The nature of evil is explicitly represented through the characters, settings, and themes throughout the story. Hawthorne cunningly administers strategic elements of terror and horror by engaging his readers to build up trepidation and fear as they analyze the settings and characters. Therefore, the fact that the premise of the story is about a crime, of an adulteress and her accomplice, can be confidently stipulated that horror will take precedence. Hawthorne's grueling battle of sin and revenge embodies his themes of terror; as a result it invites readers to scare their imagination beyond the main plot of the story.
             The first evidence that I believe Hawthorne instills horror is through his theme in the nature of evil. The characters in the novel are repeatedly and more than normally associated with the identity of the "Black Man". This black man is presumed to represent the devil himself. Hawthorne continues his theme of horror by allowing readers to look beyond the boundaries of what is known to be evil. The exact horror that is being relayed is the notion that ordinary people can have a genuine and spiritual persona from the outside but on the inside a dark and black man is awaiting their actions. In essence, Hawthorne is trying to send out the message that the devil can be
             found in everyone especially those whom you may least expect. The power of evil and its nature comes in many forms. Hawthorne creates t...