The
Scarlet Letter Essay
Naomi Giancola 802
In
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are many symbols that
the author chooses to use. He uses a rosebush in the beginning, a child for
most of the book, and Europe in the end. The symbol that stands out to me the
most is the scarlet letter that the main character, Hester has to wear for the
entire book. Hester must wear the letter because she committed the sin of
adultery. In the story, the letter has many different meaning and in the end,
Hester learns to embrace all of them. The letter on Hester’s chest is a very
important symbol in the story.
One
of the reasons I think that the A is an important symbol is because it
represents things that we would consider happy. “’Thy mother is yonder woman with
the scarlet letter.’” The letter represents Hester being a mother. Pearl, her
daughter only recognizes her when she has her letter. The letter, to Pearl,
represents what her mother went through in order to bring her to life. “The
scarlet letter was the object of love and interest.” In the end, the people in
the town realize that the letter didn’t really represent what they thought it
was supposed to represent. They realized that it symbolized love for her
daughter and even love for her self. The letter represents many good things.
The
scarlet letter represents good things, but it also represents bad things. For
example, “The scarlet letter was [Hester’s] passport into regions
where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude!” The letter represents
the struggle that she went through. She was isolated in her house in the
outskirts of the town for most of the time she was struggling with what she had
done and the shame that was brought upon her. ““Mother,” said little Pearl,
“the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is
afraid of something on your bosom.” The letter also represents how people will
always not really be comfortable around her and not completely happy because of
the dark cloud that the letter brings along. Hester will never really be able
to escape the shame of the letter.
In the end, Hester’s letter
represents a lot more then what it was supposed to represent. It has good and
bad things that will be forever attached to it. All of the meanings are very
important to the story. The scarlet letter is the most heavily weighed symbol
in the book.
