In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne Describes a prison door and a rose bush for a whole chapter. Many people would wonder why he wasted a whole chapter on two objects that seem to be useless, but what they don 't know is that the both of them serve a much greater purpose to the book than what they appear to be. These two objects both symbolize Boston. The rose bush symbolizes the hope in Boston. The fact that it survived for such a long time indicates that many have longed and hoped for a better society. One in which justice isn 't as harsh. The rose bush gives people hope as they enter or exit the gloomy prison or even as they walk through town that everything will be okay. The little pop of color it brings to the gloomy
“The scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it.” (120) Hawthorne’s description of the distorted scarlet letter illustrates the townspeople’s prejudiced view of
In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are a variety things that play an important role in the understanding of the story. One of the things that was very symbolic in the book was nature. The forest and the wilderness were linking natural elements together with human nature. Hawthorne was able to describe people physically and emotionally through this sense of nature. This is clear when he describes the lone rose-bush which symbolizes Hester and her sorrow, “If thou hadst a sorrow of thine own, the brook might tell of thee”.
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.
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.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays that flowers and weeds can symbolize people’s guilt because of their sins, and expresses the importance of confessing and repenting for the sins that people commit. Outside the prison was a “wild rose bush” that offered “fragrance and fragile beauty” (44) as each prisoner entered, “in token that the heart of nature could pity and be kind” (44) to the criminal. The wild rose bush outside the prison symbolizes the hope and comfort offered in the time of doom and despair that lies within the prisoners. Dancing up and down, Pearl, “gathered wild-flowers, flinging them, one by one, at her mother’s bosom” (89). The flowers here symbolize Hester’s guilt for her sin and how she doesn’t feel any acceptance
In Chapters Fifteen and Sixteen, of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester recognizes her true hatred of Chillingworth just before she finds Pearl, playing at the beach, and creating a green letter A on her own chest out of seaweed. Later, Hester goes to hopefully “run into” Dimmesdale in the forest to reveal to him the truth about Chillingworth’s identity. Pearl comes along, and as they wait, she curiously asks her mother about the Black Man. When Pearl sees Dimmesdale’s figure appear in the distance, she asks whether the approaching person is in fact the Black Man himself, which Hester rejects. Pearl, however, ponders if Dimmesdale clutches his heart, as he does, because the Black Man has left his mark on him, similar to how the
The Symbolic Pearl Symbolism is a technique used by all writers, and The Scarlet Letter is no exception. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of symbolism. Actually Hawthorne is one of the most prolific symbolist in American literature. Characters, events, relationships, feelings, and even weather are part of or are symbolism. Pearl is a complicated symbol of an act of love and passion.
Honors English 10 A 2/9/23 Scarlet Letter Have you ever noticed that in life there is evil wherever you go? A perfect example of this is in a story, The Scarlet Letter, written in the 1800s by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a story placed in the 1600s. This story is of Hester Prynne, the protagonist in the story, who gives birth to Pearl, a bastard child, with Dimmesdale in a highly religious puritan society and must live with the sin of adultery by wearing a scarlet letter. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a Wild Rosebush, Pearl, and Hester’s Cottage to show that it is natural to have good and evil to be in balance together. First off, Hawthorne uses the Wild Rosebush to show that everything in nature is at a balance between good
The rose-bush conveys a brighter and joyful tone, which is evident when words like “delicate gems” and “fragile beauty” are used as descriptors. The rose-bush is further talked about as a happy symbol for people walking into the prison: “...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.” This quote shows parallelism while talking about someone’s heading to their doom, and having something even that small to give them joy. The parallelism used here is in place to help shift the tone from gloomy and depressed, to something brighter and happier.
After this, Hawthorne focuses our attention on a single rose bush, which is portrayed as a symbol of hope in the story. We can see this as
In the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne grips the reader with gloominess through drab clothing, a grim cemetery, and a worn-down prison. Through color, emotion, and imagery, Hawthorne creates a dreary feeling that sets the mood for the entire story. During the 17th century, citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony are pictured standing near an old, yet intimidating prison. The men and women clothed in “sad-colored garments” (45), stand waiting for the infamous Hester Prynne. Their clothing is matched with “gray, steeple-crowned hats” (45), hats not unlike the dark, pointy cap of a witch.
Hester is now able to see her husband among the crowd surrounding the scaffold. He is dressed in odd fashion, a mixture of Native American and traditional English clothing. He gestures to her, suggesting she not reveal his identity, and asks a member of the crowd of her crime and punishment. Hester refuses to reveal the identity of her child’s father. She is to receive three hours on the scaffold and must wear the scarlet letter on her chest for life.
In The Scarlet Letter, the forest is a prominent symbol used throughout the book to represent freedom from society. The forest is where Dimmesdale and Hester chose to meet because it is secluded from the rest of the Puritan civilization. During their meeting, they discuss that they want to run away to Europe together to escape their current living situations. This is an example of how the forest is being used to represent freedom from society. It is where Hester and Dimmesdale feel they are free to speak about whatever they want, even plans of running away together, because they cannot be seen by their fellow townsmen.
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
It is quite obvious in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter that Pearl, Hester Prynne 's daughter, plays a major role. Not only is she one of the main characters, but she is prevalent theme in the novel, as well. Pearl is not written like a regular character. Most of the other symbols in the story, such as the scarlet letter or the rose bush, lead back to Pearl. Pearl takes on many symbols and serves great purpose.