The Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay

The Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthornes The cherry LetterThroughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a few key symbols to represent major themes in the book. The to the highest degree obvious and well known, as it is in the title, is the cherry-red earn Hester is oblige to wear. Three different symbols are the scaffold, the sun, and the forest. To begin with, the most important and authoritative symbol in the entire book is the infamous scarlet letter, whitherfore 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 everyday reminder of humiliate. In chapter five, Hawthorne writes,, Hester Prynne had always this dreadful bedevilment in feeling a human eye upon the token the dot never grew callous it seemed, on the contrary, to grow more sensitive with daily torture. As the story unfolds, though, th is letter comes to mean other things to Hester and the people. Rather than deliverance torture to Hester, it eventually becomes a symbol to some people mean able. In chapter 13, Hawthorne writes, They said that it meant Able so strong was Hester Prynne, with a muliebritys strength. A few pages later, Hawthorne writes, The scarlet letter had not do 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 advance(prenominal) emigrants, wore the blackest shade of puritanism, and so darkened the nat ional visage with it, that all the subsequent years have not sufficed to clear it up.) The common interpretation Hawthorne tries to set forth across implies that Natural Law (as seen in the book) is equal to Gods 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 exhibited 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.