| Submitted by: | S7R1CK3N |
| Date: | 02 / 08 / 2009 |
| Category: | English Literature |
| Words | Pages: | 1507 | 7 |
| Views: | 129 |
The Symbolism of the Letter in The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and
important symbols. This device of symbolism is portrayed well in the novel,
especially through the scarlet letter "A". The "A" is the best example
because of the changes in the meaning throughout the novel. In the
beginning of the novel, the scarlet letter "A" is viewed as a symbol of sin.
The middle of the novel is a transition period, where the scarlet letter
"A" is viewed differently.
In the commencement of the novel, the letter is taken as a label of
punishment and sin. Hester Prynne bears the label of the letter upon her
chest. She stands as a label of an outcast in front of society. She is
wearing this symbol to burden her with punishment throughout her life. She
stands on a plank where her punishment is given, "'Thus she will be a
living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon
her tombstone'"(59). Society places its blames upon this woman. It is
because of this one letter that Hester's life is changed. The letter's
meaning in Puritan society banishes her from her normal life. The Puritans
view this letter as a symbol of the devil. The letter also put Hester
through torture: "Of an impulse and passionate nature. She had fortified
herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely
wreaking itself in every variety of insult but there was a quality so much
more terrible in the solemn mood of popular mind, that she longed rather to
behold all those rigid countenances contorted with scornful merriment and
herself the object"(54). This implies that Hester's sin of bearing a child
without the presence of a husband will always be remembered.
In the middle of the novel is a transition period where the letter
"A" is viewed differently than before. In this section of the...
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