Deception In The Scarlet Letter

From the beginning of the scarlet letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne starts off using symbolism. He represents the prison as a place of darkness and sin and describes the surrounding of the prison as old and worn. Then follows to tell the reader that there is a rosebush in the prison which is an odd place for it to be and it symbolizes the grace of God. Another major symbol in this story is Hester’s daughter Pearl, she illustrates the consequences of sin and the chance of redemption. The reason for Hester naming Pearl was that she was her only treasure and she lost all of the things she owned (her social status) to have her. Not to forget the biggest symbol The Scarlett letter which represents her sins, mistakes, skill, adultery, and much more. At first Hester wears the “fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” on her breast as a punishment but as the story continues the “A” changes from Adultery to Able as she is seen different from all the good deeds she has done.

The scarlet letter on her bodice is meant as punishment for her sin. The letter A stands for adultery.

What does secrecy have to do with the suspense and power in a novel? Secrecy plays a great role in the Scarlet Letter. The secrecy to a story adds suspense and grabs the reader's attention. In the Scarlet Letter there is great secrecy among the characters and the townspeople. The cause of secrecy is very important, while it adds to the story, and makes it more enjoyable.

Secrets can destroy even the most respected people. Sometimes is not the secret itself that drives people into exhaustion, but the emotional baggage that comes with it. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale physically deteriorates because of his guilt caused by a dishonorable sin. The Puritan society in which the story is set discourages the idea of the private self, which Hawthorne shows by creating distinctions between the characters’ private and public lives, specifically Dimmesdale’s.

Though Hester has repented for her sins and has worn the scarlet letter for nearly a decade, she is still an outcast in her society. Even when she has become a force of good around her town, "Hester's nature showed itself warm and rich; a wellspring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand" (158), it seems there is nothing she can do to disprove the harsh judgement that arrived when she took up the scarlet letter. Technically, she has done everything in her power to make up for her long-past sin. In reality, the people around her treat her as if she were the only sinner in the town and had done nothing to correct her past wrong.

Secrets were the currency of choice for many transactions in the past and today. Ranging from gossip to government scandals, the secret was often the driving force of what makes the scandal so interesting. Often times, this leads to a loss of power, literal or figurative. President Nixon had retired after the Watergate Scandal, which had ruined his reputation and cost him his job. However, secret’s can also lead to empowerment, such as the unknown capacities of the Soviet Union and the United States preventing brash action. In The Scarlet Letter, Robert Chillingworth, Hester Prynne and Pearl Prynne each held a powerful secret. The secrets they possessed empowered themselves with the knowledge that only they had. Chillingworth used his knowledge of Dimmesdale’s secrets to help

The main character Hester Prynne committed both adultery and hypocrisy. Hester claims to be in love with Reverend Dimmesdale, although for the seven years that Dimmesdale is torturing himself Hester does not say or do anything. Hester felt a love so strong that she broke her wedding vows. Hester was publicly

In the fictional novel The Scarlet Letter, the contrast between public and private truth is made quite clear. The three main characters of this book make perfect examples of this overarching theme. The characters in this book are the pastor Mr. Dimmesdale, the doctor Roger Chillingworth, and the adulteress Hester Prynne. First, Mr. Dimmesdale, who seems like devout clergyman to the public, has a big secret that could get him killed if it were made known. Next, Roger Chillingworth, a harmless doctor in the eyes of the public, is actually a man on an evil and vengeful mission. Finally, Hester Prynne’s public truth is that she is unimportant outcast while in private the complete opposite is true. In conclusion, Mr. Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Hester Prynne all are prime examples of the theme, public versus private truth, that Hawthorne tries to convey in The Scarlet Letter.

In the Puritan society the outlandish mindset of the leaders caused more harm than good with the witch trials in Salem to the events mentioned in The Scarlet Letter. Sin and evil the new world cloud the vision of the citizens, yet they are two separate actions and have different definitions. Hawthorne explains the difference between the two in the novel and also shows off his famous skill of questioning a society’s rules, regulations, and social structure. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his writing style of ambiguity, and ornate word choice to relay his opinion of the puritan society. Characters, quotes, and symbols give us a snapshot of the time and thoughts on events and ideas during the era. Hawthorne’s characters are a

Symbolism has many different meanings, and the Scarlet ‘A’ in “The Scarlet Letter” has many different meanings as well. Hester Prynne is the main character who is forced to wear the scarlet letter as remembrance for the crime and the sin that she has committed. This letter completely ruined her reputation in her community. How could a small piece of fabric do so much harm? This letter was a representation of something much greater than the letter ‘A’. This letter was originally made to stand for adulteress, as physical reminder of her sins. The vibrant scarlet red is meant to shame Hester, to make her feel sorry for her mistakes. Most importantly it was a symbol for change and an emblem of identity. In short, the scarlet letter meant much more than a letter of shame, it was simply a piece of fabric with meaning that could easily change.

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.

One of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter is that of the secret.  The plot of the book is centered on Hester Prynne’s secret sin of adultery.  Nathaniel Hawthorne draws striking parallelism between secrets held and the physical and mental states of those who hold them.  The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeance, while a secret made public, such as Prynne’s adultery, can allow a soul to recover and even strengthen.

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale takes the easy way out and does not tell the community that he is the one that committed adultery with Hester Prynne, which led to more pain than he saved. Him and Hester Prynne committed adultery together and as a result of that, they have a

     Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form.

The scarlet letter could also be looked as a quality of Hester's character. This quality defined the views of the townspeople regarding Hester, and in time also changed in meaning. It was at the beginning of the book that the letter embroidered on her bosom only stood for adultery, and the common consensus of the people, in respects to Hester's actions, was "this woman has shamed us all and ought to die" (50). In time, and through the actions of Hester Prynne, the letter 'A' upon her chest was understood to be something different, and "many people refused to interpret the