ipl-logo

Diction In The Scarlet Letter

635 Words3 Pages

Sprinkled Snickerdoodlepastasauce Scarlet Letter Essay Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne shifts from a disapproving tone in the beginning of the passage to a more hopeful tone near the end of the excerpt. During the initial parts of the text, Hawthorne utilizes Anglo-Saxon diction in order to convey a disapproving tone towards the Puritan Society. The author begins the text by immediately portraying the townsfolk as wearing “sad colored garments,” and “some [women] wearing hoods.” Through this description of the residents, he deems them to be dull and boring. Additionally, Hawthorne also uses this blunt word choice while describing the area the Puritans reside in. He immediately describes the prison and it’s surroundings- …show more content…

Whereas the writer described the prison as “unsightly,” he describes the rose bush as “ covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” Immediately what comes to mind is the protagonist vs the antagonist. The rose bush, the noble creature, against all odds, fighting for good, and this society, ugly and evil, fighting against what is right. This difference in diction immediately juxtaposes the society from the “wild” rose bush, and signals the shift in tone, revealing Hawthorne’s attitude towards the two different …show more content…

Hawthorne notes that the rose bush, with it’s “fragrance and fragile beauty,” in the presence of unsightly vegetation, a gloomy old prison, with people wandering about in depressing garments. Not only does this make the reader picture the beauty of the rose in contrast to ugliness of the environment, but Hawthorne also alludes to the idea of a rose bush in this conforming, bland society as a whole. Furthermore; near the very end of the passage, Hawthorne makes a last significant allusion to the rose bush- “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet… of human frailty and sorrow.” This last reference to the rose bush significantly reinforces the idea of the rose bush as the drink to nurture the independent ideas of society while starving the conformity that is exhibited throughout the story. His allusions towards the symbol -that is the sweet moral blossoms- reinforces hope for a brighter future for human

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, And The Birthmark

    615 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chris Ocampo Period 4A October 18,2015 Character Analysis/symbolism/Theme Identification-Analysis Essay Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolic commentary and conventional themes in The Scarlet Letter, The Ministers Black Veil, and The Birthmark, characterizes sin and judgment as deformations within us all. Within each of Hawthorne’s’ works sin reflects internal and exposed sins, as well in people’s flaws. However, there deformations expand further than the objects that they wear. All of the major symbols and themes in Hawthorns selected works embody Alienation. Hester Prynne, Aylmer, and Mr. Hooper are linked to the ambiguity of Puritan morals.

    Read More

  • Rosebush In The Scarlet Letter Essay

    462 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s rosebush in The Scarlet Letter represents the prisoners who are living within the shadows of the prison. Throughout the novel Hester, a prisoner, is seeking redemption, so she’s willing to sacrifice her reputation for the sake of her daughter. The rosebush is a symbol for those who are suffering or going through a difficult time. The rosebush is growing in the shadows of the prison, as are the prisoners who have a chance at redeeming themselves. Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne overcomes several challenging obstacles that come her way and try preventing her redemption.

    Read More

  • Being An American In The Scarlet Letter

    1708 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the book it tells the reader that there is a rose bush growing right next to the prison door. This rose bush represents kindness and forgiveness to the prisoners. In addition to the door represents the harsh justice of the Puritans. It also represents no innocence or guilt like the red "A." In many ways the prison door is like the red "A" because it shows you that prisoners can't get out and are insufficient, but when they do get out of prison they are like the rose bush, innocent and kind. The rose bush shows that if you complete your sentence you will have justice rule.

    Read More

  • Hawthorne's Use Of Irony In Scarlet Letter

    736 Words  | 3 Pages

    When you think of a Puritan society, what comes to your mind? Perfect, flawless, and a religion based on following God? Well, that is what it says on paper, but is it really that perfect? Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne jabs at the Puritans in an attempt to portray just how flawed they really are. After reading the book, you want to think that Hawthorne is telling the story of sinning in a Puritan society.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Transcendentalism In The Scarlet Letter

    1071 Words  | 5 Pages

    In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne exposes these same structural flaws of strict Puritan community and the inherent, inevitable

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Scarlet Letter

    534 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Prison Door” from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses imagery and parallelism to convey his tone while introducing the setting of the book. He uses a gloomy and depressed tone in the beginning of the chapter using imagery while describing different places through the town. Later on in the chapter, he moves on to discuss the rose-bush. This is looked at as a joyful symbol to the sad citizens. This is the parallelism he uses to shift the tone to be brighter and

    Read More

  • Sunlight Symbolism In The Scarlet Letter

    1411 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Puritan society isolates and publically humiliates the adulteress justifying the embarrassment as her need to repent. Her unnamed partner is trapped even more because he is completely living a lie. Symbolism is used by Hawthorne to show how imprisoned

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Scarlet Letter

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, one of the protagonists of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, stands as a highly conflicted character. The source of his divide stems from the consequences of private sins, and is prevalent within the first paragraphs of Chapter 12, “The Minister’s Vigil,” where the narration chronicles Dimmesdale’s surroundings as he dream walks through the town in a state of limbo. He is portrayed as a model citizen who lacks moral imperfections to the general public yet suffers privately from the juxtaposition of his sins to his position within the community. In this specific passage, Hawthorne uses somber diction and imagery to illustrate Dimmesdale’s strife, while portraying his internal conflict through the formation

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Puritan’s harsh beliefs represented the beginning of the Nineteenth Century in the newly colonized America. Their community ruled with an iron fist: unforgiving, pitiless, stern. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses his disagreement with puritan priorities by revealing the hypocrisy widely practiced throughout their community. Hawthorne’s utilization of dim diction aids in the establishment of his scornful tone, while inclusion of symbols and intricate juxtaposition all serve to accentuate the Puritan’s duplicity. All these factors combine to develop a critical tone which rebukes puritan society.

    Read More

  • Imagery And Diction In Alice Walker's 'The Flowers'

    524 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Scarlet Letter

    986 Words  | 4 Pages

    [a] fragile beauty” (56) growing in front of the deformed building. The positive diction accompanying the rose allows the reader to understand the necessity of nature in society seeking purity. With the disdain surrounding the “gloomy front”(55) of the prison and cemetery, Hawthorne accuses the Puritans of replacing good with physical structures of sin and ultimately disregarding the aspect of a utopia. With a literal juxtaposing placement of the buildings and the rose bush, the mass of sin enclosed in the buildings are overcome by the beauty of the

    Read More

  • Imagery In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    467 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first example of imagery that Hawthorne uses is when Young Goodman Brown is walking through the woods and he was trying to resist the devil’s temptations. “On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an insperation of horrid blasphemy, and now shounting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around

    Read More

  • Reading Response To Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

    1146 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne did not always speak positively toward the Puritans, but he has respect for the group. The main symbol that stands out is the scarlet letter “A” that was stuck on Hester Prynne for her actions of adultery which is a theme for this book. Another symbol is the rose bush that grew right outside of the old, rusty, decaying prison

    Read More

  • Language In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1303 Words  | 6 Pages

    His intense descriptions and ability to make things come alive allow for enhanced understandings of the underlying meanings within the novel. This imagery spreads and mixes into other artful devices such as metaphor and personification which deliver blows of literary beauty. Combinations such as these are seen in the rosh bush detail that is placed right outside Hester’s prison door. It’s described as “a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in” (Hawthorne, 68) mostly to express the metaphor of mocking the prisoner with beauty as all they feel is misery, but it also displays extreme imagery of it’s scent and sparkle. This can be said for Hawthorne’s illustration of the governor’s garden as well.

    Read More

  • Gothic Elements In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

    1284 Words  | 6 Pages

    Point #1: Hawthorne effectively establishes a dark and gloomy atmosphere that adopts the conventions pertaining to the gothic genre by highlighting the oppressive nature of the Puritan society. • Use of dark imagery, and prison as a symbol of sin. • Juxtaposition

    Read More

More about Diction In The Scarlet Letter

Open Document