e Black Man by Pearl. Chillingworth says,
"Ye that have wronged me not sinful, save in a kind of typical illusion, neither am I fiend
like who have snatched a fiend's office from his hands. It is our fate. Let the black flower
blossom as it may!" The black flower, as Chillingworth describes it, is the truth of all the
events leading up to who the father is, and who Chillingworth is. The truth is a dark truth,
therefore it is related with the darkness.
Hester, Pearl, and Chillingworth are all characters associated light and darkness. Nathaniel
Hawthorne uses light and darkness to symbolize good and/or evil.
The kind young woman is symbolic of hope in the story. Surrounded by people
criticizing and being self-righteous only the young woman has kind words to say to and
about Hester Prynne. The first instance when she is kind is at the beginning when Hester is
on the scaffold for the first time. Other women were making remarks like, "This woman
has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die." (p. 49) But the young woman
says,"...let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart." (p.
49) Even thought this remark is not extremely kind it is the only thing said in Hester's
defense. Later in the scene the young woman speaks again."Oh, peace, neighbors, peace!"
whispered their youngest companion; "do not let her hear you! Not a stitch in that
embroidered letter, but she has felt it in her heart." (p. 51) Once again, she is the only
person to defend Hester. This makes her symbolic of the hope that Hester can return to a
somewhat normal life. She is Hester's hope. At the end of the story, the reader learns that
the young woman dies and Hester makes her burial robe. "Hester saw and recognized the
self-same faces of that group of matrons, who had awaited her forthcoming from the
prison-door, seven years...