...“The Scarlet Letter” by Hawthorne was a very symbolic read. There was very many things in the book that called to have meaning somethings like the meteor, the scarlet letter, the forest, the black man and the prison door and even pearl were all things that had reason and meaning. Somethings more meaning than others but all are very important to the story without one it wouldn’t be just quite right. Hawthorne used a lot of symbols to show what scenes and events during the story meant. The most important symbol in the book is Hester's living version of the scarlet letter pearl. Pearl is a symbol in many ways the biggest way is being a living version of the scarlet letter for hester. Mainly pearl is there to be a symbol to remind hester of what...
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...The Scarlet Letter In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A young woman named Hester Prynne in Boston is prosecuted for adultery. To symbolize her crime, she has an “A” imprinted on her bosom. As a result of her committing adultery, she and Reverend Dimmesdale (his identity is not identified until later in the book) have a child. She is a very curious child, and her name is Pearl. Roger Chillingworth, comes to see Hester on the scaffold and he doesn’t want his identity revealed either but it does get revealed in later chapters. In the Scarlet letter, the author uses different symbols, literary devices, and themes that help Nathaniel’s purpose of writing. Symbolism A symbol in the Scarlet Letter is literally the Scarlet Letter...
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...The Scarlet Letter Essay In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne effectively conveys his message through his continual use of powerful symbolism throughout the novel. Hawthorne uses copious symbols throughout the book that represent a broader meaning, such as the scarlet letter and the meteor. For example, Pearl’s name is allegorical of her character and the price her mother paid. An actual pearl is not completely white. This demonstrates how Pearl is not entirely pure and has a tendency to be an “elfish” child. Pearl is also correlated to the rose bush near the prison. Hawthorne states, “The child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses” (Hawthorne 90). She relates to this because although Pearl is beautiful, she can have her “thorns.” In the novel, Hawthorne states, “But she named the infant “Pearl,” as being of great price,--purchased with all she had,--her mother’s only treasure” (Hawthorne 73). This...
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...Hon Eng 10 The Scarlet Letter Authors use literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery, and symbolism to add depth to their stories. Foreshadowing is the use of phrases and words to hint at something that will occur in the future. In using imagery, authors use words and phrases to create mental pictures in the reader’s mind. Symbolism is the use of objects, gestures, and traits to represent entirely different from the literal sense. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorn utilizes symbolism to represent multiple layers of meanings throughout the novel. These symbols have more significant meanings than the mundane and express ideas and beliefs at a much deeper level. A symbol that is present throughout the novel is the scaffold. In construction, scaffolds are used to provide support. These scaffolds motivate and enable those standing on them to stay on task and purpose. In Hawthorne’s novel, the scaffold is the location where truth is to be supported and moved forward. It is the place where truth comes forth and is examined. Those who stand on the scaffold are forced to face the truth and evaluate what is in their hearts. The first time, the scaffold represents Hester’s shame in having a Pearl from an adulteress affair. The second time, Hester and Pearl join Dimesdale on the scaffold in his futile attempt in admitting his involvement with Hester. The last time the scaffold is mentioned in the novel, Dimesdale, openly admits the secret that he is Pearls father in the light...
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...Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolic imagery in the novel of The Scarlet Letter in order to demonstrate the failure of the oppressive Puritan society. Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman, moved to New England while her husband stayed behind in England. While she was alone, she had an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale and they have a daughter named Pearl. In the Puritan society, Adultery is one of the utmost sins that can be committed. When it became known that Hester was an adulteress, she was sentenced to prison and public punishment. Due to the oppressive nature of the Puritan society, Hawthorne writes of the Puritans’ forcing Hester to wear a scarlet “A” upon her chest to make her sin aware to everyone. Through his use of contrasting symbolism, Hawthorne...
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...In the scarlet letter, Pearl is the scarlet letter in flesh and blood. Pearl is the being that makes Hester’s sin known. In the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne foreshadows Pearl’s symbolism of the scarlet letter when “but that first object of which Pearl seemed to become aware was--shall we say it?--the scarlet letter on Hester's bosom” (Hawthorne ). Pearls fascination and fixation with the scarlet letter is repeated numerous other times in the novel, including when pearl makes her own scarlet letter out of seaweed (Hawthorne 174) and when she points out the scarlet letter on a suit of armour in the Governor's mansion (Hawthorne ). Pearl's name itself was given to her by Hester as a reminder of her sin: “But she named the infant ‘Pearl’ as...
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...Symbols in the Scarlet Letter Colors can represent many things; for example it can represent the emotions someone is feeling or to describe something or to simply determine whether a food is going to be eaten. Another example would be a funeral; everyone knows that it’s appropriate to wear black because it’s a time to mourn and sorrow for a lost loved one, but if someone were to wear black to a wedding it would portray to be inappropriate because weddings are created to be a time full of joy and new beginnings. Colors are used in present day to represent things, yet they were just as useful hundreds of years ago, for instance; the 1600’s. In the 1600’s, the Puritan society represented a community that was gloomy and dark while also being full of strict rules and “perfect” people who did not sin. In The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he uses the main character, Hester Prynne, as a representation of the Puritan society by using symbolism in two ways: the scarlet letter itself and the forest. To begin with, Hester Prynne was accused of adultery while her husband was gone from Massachusetts, her home town. Because of this accusation, she was forced to pin a bright red scarlet letter on her chest. This scarlet letter stood out in front of people’s eyes whenever she was around. Now as a Puritan, it was forbidden to sin. They believed that sinners were working with the devil to finish any undone business he had left. It was a rule with the Puritans to have an...
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...scaffold in front of others. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the many sinful would even inflict self-damage on themselves . The Scarlet Letter affirms the importance of work ethic and virtuosity of life. Hawthorne exercises the device of rhetorical irony and symbolism throughout the book which is supported by other devices such as pathos and abstract ideas to reveal the effects of sin on the Puritans. The Puritan way of life is distinctive from what we see today. Hawthorne establishes symbolic elements in the introduction of the wild rose bush. Hawthorne describes the bush as a possible ¨sweet moral blossom.” Hawthorne then starts with 1st...
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...Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, tells the story of a woman who commits adultery in a puritanical society. As punishment for her sin, Hester Prynne must wear the ignominious scarlet letter ‘A’ for adulteress. As a result, she is the constant target of ridicule and persecution, which in Puritan society was a punishment almost equivalent to death.Throughout the novel, multiple Puritan beliefs are reflected, however; these tenets of Puritanism are used to reveal a further symbolic or Romantic meaning. Hawthorne himself, claimed that the novel was more indicative of Romantic ideals. Even the style in which the novel was written is reflective of the Romantic Era. Puritan writing was simple and facile to interpret, whereas The Scarlet...
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...The Scarlet Letter, is far more complex than some simple morality tale about Hester Prynne's public shaming at the hands of the Puritan community in 1640's Massachusetts Bay. One of the big topics in this book is guilt. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the scarlet letter, the scaffold, and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne shows us that the scarlet 'A', (which Hester wears to single her out as an adulteress and sinner), is really just a token of her humanity. Because the truth is that we all have our secret sins. It is just that Hester's sin was caught, while most of the rest of us writhe beneath the guilt of secret shame. And it is this hidden guilt which eats Hester's lover, Reverend Dimmesdale, alive. Guilt and Redemption; Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale experience very different life trajectories after their affair. Hester's pregnancy with her much beloved daughter pearl is a direct coralarion with guilt for pearl was conceived with a man who wasn’t Hesters’ husband. Her husband has been missing and presumed dead for years. Poor Dimmesdale’ life started to “dim” at the very time and moment he saw pearl with Hester standing on the scaffold. It was his first time seeing her since pearl was concieved. But Hester's lover and Pearl's father,...
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...1. 狱墙上的红玫瑰 Nathaniel Hawthorne key figure tales of the nation’s colonial history First symbolic and psychological novel Pearl is special, full of mystery, strange and self-contradictory Lovely and soft & violent and rude She is a living scarlet letter She is a wild rose-bush on the prison hall: an evil flower on the prison wall(1.a sin-born infant 2.the emblem of Hester’s guilt and torture 3.the source of Dimmesdale’s agony She is an innocent bush(1.a savor of Hester’s sin 2.a savor for Dimmesdale) Herman Melville title the largest brain and the greatest symbolism D.H. Lawrence Pearl the most modern child in all literature A devilish girl-child tender loving understanding give you a hit a grin of sheer diabolic jeering She is really a combination of good and evil. 2. 一朵野玫瑰 珠儿重要性分析 霍桑和红字：霍桑 红字 On page 81 and 82 Hawthorne describes her beauty very clearly. Pearl is vividly described by Hawthorn in page 81 as the infant whose guiltless life was the product of inscrutable decree of providence. On page 168 hawthorn talks about the light that happily lingers about the child that is lonely as if it is glad to have found such a loving playing mate. We are also told that the sunshine accepts pearl as an equal. The great forest also becomes the playmate of this lonely child. The natural things become her only friends and this in the end makes this child a very weird child. A good example is where Hester...
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...FINAL WORD TRACK ANALYSIS- THE BLACK MAN In The scarlet letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne has used “Black Man “to signify evil and darkness. The Scarlet letter is based on the sins of the puritan society. The word “Black Man” refers to the “Satan” who is the devil. Many religions believe it to be an incarnation of God in a human or animal. Puritans and Christians believed it to be a devil dressed in black, who haunts the forest and tempts people into signing their name in his book with their own blood as ink. The word “Black Man” is used for the first time by Hester Prynne in chapter 4 while conversing with Roger Chillingworth. She says “art thou like the Black man that haunts the forest round about us? Hast thou enticed me into a bond that will prove the ruin of my soul?” .Hester Prynne doesn’t trusts Roger Chillingworth and believes he is trying to take his revenge. Roger Chillingworth has asked Hester to keep his identity a secret. Hester Prynne knows something will be wrong because of this bond but still she makes the deal because she has no choice. This is said in chapter 14 in another conversation between Hester and Roger. The bond here is referred to the Black man’s bond where Roger Chillingworth has been compared to the Black man and has made a deal with Hester. The word Black man is used once again by Mistress Hibbins in chapter 8. Mistress Hibbins has been suspected of being a witch. She says, “There will be a...
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...Symbols in "The Scarlet Letter" A In “The Scarlet Letter,” symbols appear everywhere. Hawthorne uses several different concrete objects to represent something of deeper meaning. Among these symbols is the scarlet letter "A" itself. It is made of red cloth and beautifully embroidered. It is a literal symbol of the sin of adultery. The letter "A" appears in several places and several forms. It is the letter that appears on Hester's heart that she is condemned to wear for the remainder of her life. At Governor Bellingham's mansion it is magnified in the breastplate. It seems as though she is hidden behind it. On the night that Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, a huge letter A appears in the sky. Later, while in the forest, Pearl arranges a letter a on her heart that is made of eel grass. One of the most dramatic of the A's that appear in the book is the A that appears on Dimmesdale's chest. Not only does the "A" symbolize adultery, but it also has several other meanings to the different characters as well. To the community, it is simply a mark of punishment. To Hester, it is a mark of embarrassment and humiliation. To Dimmesdale, the scarlet letter is a reminder of his own guilt. To Pearl, the mark is a mysterious curiosity. To Chillingworth, the "A" is his chance to get revenge on Dimmesdale. Later, the letter symbolizes "Able" when Hester wins some respect from the townspeople. The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it becomes...
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...The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism For symbolism we used this illustration as a way to show the connection between all the symbols and their relation to sin. The path of sin starts at the prison door. The break in the door shows that a person cannot run from their past and sins, they will come out eventually. Notice how the river expands to include more and more symbols. We chose that to show how the longer these confessions are repressed the larger and more difficult to deal with they become. The symbol closest to the prison door is the rose. The rose is a direct parallel to Pearl as they both serve as a stark contrast to the surrounding environment. The rose bush’s main function was to symbolize a moral blossom in the story as it shows that justice will eventually prevail. The rose bush also reflects the moral values in proportion to the nature. Because within the bonds of the nature everything acts in a way than what it is really like and what it should do by its nature without resisting to its essential needs. But civilized man especially puritans rejected the mostly part of human needs like enjoys and spices of the life especially sexuality. But to deny means nothing because you can change nothing by denying it or covering the truth. So the roses symbolized normally passions and desires thus we can deduce that here it symbolizes how the freedom of the human nature is imprisoned by the conventional wisdom. Under this circumstance the nature will resist to the later doctrines...
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...Dimmesdale vs. John Proctor Heroes are often thought as the superior and perfect people in society. However, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible illustrates that everyone, including sinners, can be a hero in certain situations. The Scarlet Letter, a book about the consequence and change of identity after committing adultery between the main characters, Hester and Dimmesdale, has many similarities with The Crucible, a story about an unfair witch-hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. In the two books, Dimmesdale and John Proctor are depicted as heroes despite their critical flaws in their lives. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller, the authors of The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, portray contrasting symbolism such as hypocrisy and justice through similar but different characters: Reverend Dimmesdale and John Proctor. Identified as an adulterer in the story, Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy is clearly shown through the context. The story starts off with the punishment of Hester for her sin, adultery that she had committed with Dimmesdale. As Hester does not blurt the name of the child’s father when questioned about the crime, Dimmesdale as a Reverend, the holy man, speaks up. He states, “though [the man that has sinned] were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart.” (Hawthorne 58). He continues that the “silence” of Hester is just “[adding] hypocrisy to sin.” (Hawthorne 58). Ironically, his statements...
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