The Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay

The Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet LetterThrough divulge the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a a couple of(prenominal) key symbols to represent major themes in the book. The most obvious and well known, as it is in the title, is the reddened letter Hester is forced to wear. Three other symbols argon the scaffold, the sun, and the forest. To begin with, the most important and influential symbol in the entire book is the infamous scarlet letter, hence the title, The Scarlet Letter. In the second chapter, Hester walks out of the prison, wearing the infamous scarlet letter A. During the first few years of Hesters punishment, the letter was a daily reminder of shame. In chapter five, Hawthorne writes,, Hester Prynne had eternally this dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token the spot never grew callous it seemed, on the contrary, to grow more reactive with daily torture. As the story unfolds, though, this letter comes to mean other things to Hester and the people. Rather than bringing torture to Hester, it eventually becomes a symbol to some people substance able. In chapter 13, Hawthorne writes, They said that it meant Able so strong was Hester Prynne, with a womans strength. A few pages later, Hawthorne writes, The scarlet letter had not done its office. The scarlet letter was meant as a punishment for Hester, and yet here we see that it hasnt punished Hester. Then, in chapter 18, Hawthorne writes, Thus, we seem to see that, as regarded Hester Prynne, the whole seven years of outlaw and ignominy had been little other than a preparation for this very hour. Although the scarlet letter does bring shame to Hester, as Hawthorne writes, it has not performed its duty. Hester pl... ...d. (For example, in chapter 21, Hawthorne writes, Their immediate posterity, the generation next to the early emigrants, wore the blackest shade of Puritanism, and so darkened the national visage with it, that all the sub sequent years have not sufficed to conk it up.) The common interpretation Hawthorne tries to get across implies that Natural Law (as seen in the book) is equal to paragons Law, and that the Puritans have all their beliefs mixed up and theyre wrong. This is where Hawthorne errs. In reality, Puritan Law is closer to Gods law than is Natural Law, as we see it in the book. The Puritans base their law on Gods Law, but the Natural Law delivered in the book isnt based on Gods law. In closing, Hawthorne uses several symbols to portray themes and ideas in this novel. Each of these has common interpretations, many of which arent completely accurate.