The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1840, is mainly about the Boston Puritans of the 1600's. In this novel, Hester Pryne has to wear an elaborately designed "A" on her breast because it represents that she is an adulteress. Hawthorne uses numerous themes to show his views on man and society and the two important themes he discusses are isolation and that true repentance must come from within. (72).
             Hawthorne had used many ways of showing isolation in this novel. For example, Dimmsedale, Hester, and Pearl are atop the scaffold when, "a light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors...the minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter-the letter 'A'-marked out in lines of dull red light" (150, 152). This shows that this is God's punishment of the two sinners, most especially Dimmesdale. This also shows that Hester has already been discovered and is receiving her punishment by wearing the scarlet letter branding her as an adulteress and keeping her socially isolated and it shows Hester estranged from society. In addition, we see a plant which stands out, "But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered... with its delicate gems" (Hawthorne, 46). This shows that this rosebush is like Hester, for it too stands out as wild and d!
             ifferent. This also shows that they both stand separate from their surroundings. In conclusion, Hawthorne shows that sin, known or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and God. (198)
             Hawthorne also used many ways of showing how true repentance can come from within. For example, Hawthorne writes, "No man, for any considerable period can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.&qu
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