Symbols Found in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter Essay

Understanding the underlying meaning of symbols in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels is a major key to actually understanding what is occurring in the story itself. There is a multitude of symbols pay attention to in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Out of all these symbols,however, Sunlight stood out. Sunlight plays a tremendous part in showing the emotion in characters, mood of the current situation, and foreshadowing major events that are soon to take place.

No other author like Nathaniel Hawthorne can use symbols in such a understanding way. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are various amounts of symbols that all connect to Hawthorne's purpose in writing the novel. The main idea of The Scarlet letter was depressing; a married Puritan woman named Hester who has borne an illegitimate child by a lover who she doesn't want to name, is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothes as a symbol of her adultery. Hawthorne uses various amounts of symbols like the scarlet letter represents sin and punishment for who commit adultery in the Puritan Society. Hawthorne conveys the message of evil through symbols of Pearl and how she represents sin, and the Blackman represent how Puritans society

The rose bushes and the red blossoms symbolize the strength the rose bush needed to survive in its elements to thus provide happiness in others. That one lone beauty, growing in such a dark and gloomy place, provides a ray of hope for those living in despair and loneliness inside the prison gates. The elements the rose bush is exposed to, act as a metaphor for Hester and her hardships which she slowly learns to adapt to.

            Nature is often used symbolically in The Scarlet Letter to describe people physically, emotionally, and socially.  Hawthorne uses this technique very effectively.  He gives the reader a good feel for the true psyche of some of the characters during different parts of the story.  An excellent example of how characters are revealed through nature is the description of the lone rose-bush.  It symbolizes Hester and the strength she

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

Hawthorne does not only use human or people for symbolism. He also uses inanimate objects to project his themes and morals. There are many different things used iron, a rosebush, scaffolds, and of course the scarlet letter. In The Scarlet Letter the author might directly state what the objects represents or it might be left to the reader to decide for themselves what the object means.

The author uses Pearl’s interest in the devil to connect her to a symbol of evil and sin. The Black Man is “associated with the forested wilderness” and is found there at night (250). The chapters A Forest Walk, A Flood of Sunshine, and The Child at the Brook-Side display how naturally Pearl fits into the wilderness. Hester perceives her “now like a real child” who was “gentler here than in grassy-marginated streets of the settlement” (187, 188). Hawthorne shows how the “nymph-child” fits into the Black Man’s forest more than the Puritan village. He conveys how connected she is to the devil, and that her symbolic character embodies that. This mythical and sinful symbol has a spell-like aspect; Hawthorne uses this character to further the novel and prove his point.

In the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolism is used to represent the evolution of the characters primarily that of Hester Prynne. Two of these symbols as they are used repeatedly create underlying truths telling their own story of growth and understanding as sunshine and the letter "A" bring to light who Hester Prynne truly is.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, features many instances of symbolism. One notable example is the opposing behavioral systems of the forest and town and how natural authority triumphs that of man.

Webster defined "symbol" with these words: "Something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that cannot in itself be pictured." This concept has been particularly applied to literature and used by writers throughout history. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses multitudes of symbols in such a manner. One of the most prominent, and most complicated, of such symbols is the scarlet letter "A". The scarlet letter "A" is a symbol of a daughter's connection to her mother, isolation, and the devil and its associations.

Using symbolism gives a story meaning like the objects and people that the story contains, and it causes the reader to make relations with what events are occurring. In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism is used in order to describe Hester Prynne’s sin and disgrace. Even though the story is about her and how she handles the shame, the other culprit behind the lust, Arthur Dimmesdale, does not actually come forward until the end, but he suffers throughout the book by beating himself. In the end, however, he dies because he withheld the guilt while Hester suffers with their child, Pearl, who is one of the symbols of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices, especially symbolism, in order to show objects have deeper meanings than what they actually represent when he describes the scene when Hester Prynne is standing on the scaffold in the middle of the town in front of thousands of citizens.

Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporated many different symbols to help portray what he envisioned for the book, The Scarlet Letter. His symbols are key to understanding his novels. The primary symbol he used was the scarlet letter A itself. A symbol is something that is used to represent something else. In literature, a symbol has a different meaning. A symbol is an object used to signify an idea or quality, often like a moral, something religion-based, or realistic concept or value. Three ways he uses the scarlet letter to convey meaning is by the different characters, light and dark, and the settings.

Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes symbolism using elements of nature that represent good vs. evil, sin, and continual rebellion against Puritan society. The basis of Nathaniel's writing style is symbolism and allegory, (where concrete objects usually have a hidden meaning). The symbolism found most importantly throughout the novel so far would be light, darkness, and the rose bush, all found in nature. Symbolism is present throughout the entire novel.

Hawthorne makes extensive use of symbols-people,places,or objects that are made to take on a larger meaning. Explain briefly Hawthorne’s use of the following symbols: the scaffold, the forest, weeds, and poisonous plants. In the beginning near the prison door is a rosebush and this rosebush is a symbol.The rosebush symbolizes that nature is able to extend its pity and its kindness to its prisoners and in fact this rosebush grew once Anne Hutchinson passed by that prison door. The ending of the chapter the blossom of that rosebush symbolizes some of its sweet moral. The blossom can symbolize the relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.

From the first chapter in The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne conveys a very symbolic technique, color imagery.