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What Does The Color Red Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

1061 Words5 Pages

A, symbols many
Throughout the years words have evolved into symbols. For example,the color red! Red symbolizes love, red symbolises luck, power, and in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne red stands for a crime of passion. Hawthorns biggest symbol in the book, however, is the scarlet letter. The scarlet letter represents sin, and, in Hester’s case, adultery. The scarlet letter also represents other meanings in the novel. The scarlet letter symbolizes adultery, able, and alone to show the importance of honesty. Throughout the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals that the scarlet letter first stood for adultery. Even though the scarlet letter was supposed to be a punishment for having a child out of wedlock, Hester Prynne …show more content…

Hawthorne explains that the scarlet letter means able when he says” [t]hey said that it meant able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength”(127). Hawthorne shows Hester Prynne is able when he states, [‘this badge hath taught me - it daily teaches me - it is teaching me at this moment - lessons whereof my child may be the wiser and the better” (89). This is very important and matters because it is showing us that the scarlet letter is teaching Hester and letting her be able to pass it down to her child Pearl.Hawthorne also shows when Hester is able by showing strength, especially when Hawthorne exclaims, “she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and face of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will” (45). Hawthorne also shows Hester ability and strength when he states, “Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, … The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other woman dared not tread. Shame, despair, solitude! Those have been her teachers, - stern and wild ones, - and they had made her stronger but taught her much amiss” (157). Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter to illuminate on Hester’s strength and ability. By presenting Hester in this manner Hawthorne reveals her strength and ability in the beginning of the book so Hester could stand up and be honest and courageous, which enabled her to be able to stand up to the ridicule and

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What Does Pearl A Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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Throughout the book The Scarlet Letter, there are many cases of symbolism. One of the most prominent ones is the scarlet A on Hesters chest. The A was a symbol for adultery. Pearl was a symbol of the sin that Hester committed. Pearl is also a symbol of the sun between Hester and whatever his face is.

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She was so strong and powerful she changed the symbol of iniquity itself. It was the “helpfulness found in [Hester]- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet ‘A’ by its original signification. They said that it meant ‘Able;’ so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 152). The scarlet letter was a mark of adultery meant to bring shame and guilt upon those who bore it. Hester lived her life with strength even under the weight of the public eye, that she altered the view of the scarlet letter.

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