The Scarlet Letter Essay Paper Example For Students

The Scarlet Letter Essay Paper scarlet letter as a symbol By: David Leu The Scarlet Letter As a Symbol Often throughout The Scarlet Letter there are symbolic references made. The story deals with a Puritan woman who commits adultery and raises an illegitimate child named Pearl. The author, Nathanial Hawthorne, uses many religious and natural images to symbolize different points. One of the purposes of this symbolism is to show that Puritanism is hypocritical and that their religious viewpoints are against the natural order, which is done by using contrasting natural and religious symbols in the descriptions of Pearl. Also through out the book, Hawthorne uses the letter as a major symbol. At the beginning of the story, the letter is a symbol of sin. The sin was adultery. Hester has had relations with man while she had a husband. At the time, she wasnt aware that her husband was still alive. The evidence of her actions was her daughter, Pearl. For her sentence, Hester would have to wear the letter A and also stand on the scaffolds in the afternoon. We will write a custom essay on The Scarlet Letter Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now In later chapters, the letter evolves into able. Some years after the beginning of the incident, Hester has tried to move on with her life and has become a big help to her community. She is well liked for her art in sewing, and is also helpful towards the sick and the dying. Most of the townspeople have forgotten what has happened and have accepted Hester for who she is and not what she has done. The product of Hesters sin was also a symbol used in the book. Pearl was always a symbol for her sin. She was the evidence that convicted Hester. In one part of the story, Hester and Pearl visit the Governor and Pearl is dressed up in a red dress with gold trim. She was described as resembling the letter on her mothers chest. Hester character is shown here because by dressing Pearl up to look like the letter, she admits that she is not ashamed of what she has done and what has come out of it. In the second scaffold scene, a scarlet A appears in the sky above Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl. In this scene, the letter actually represents two things. One of them is angel. One of the townsmen has just passed away and they believed that it was his angel overhead. The second symbol is forgiveness. This was the second major scaffold scene and this was when Dimmesdale finally goes on the scaffold for forgiveness. This is the first time that he has openly admitted to have been apart of Hesters sin. Throughout the book there are examples of when Pearl has almost some kind of supernatural ability to see things the way that they really are. A child these young with these gifts of perception would definitely have been viewed evil in Puritan society. It was assumed to be some type of witchcraft. This is even more obvious with the observations that she makes. When Pearl questions her mother as to where she came from, the response typically was the Heavenly Father. Pearl then proceeds to point at Hesters scarlet letter and replies that she did not come from the heavenly father. This statement at such a young age reflects that not only does she recognize herself as an evil outcast from the Christians but also somewhat of a heretical statement. These two different conflicting groups of symbols are more than likely nothing more than a resentment of Hawthorns Puritan upbringing, but do say a lot about Puritan society. Hawthorne when writing this book, wanted it to be read on many different levels and is why he used so many symbols. Most of them are easily seen, but many are not. A reader should read this book and then re-read it to see the true power of this literature. .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .postImageUrl , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:hover , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:visited , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:active { border:0!important; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:active , .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf5b0bc802786dcb1a6aaccc3c0192bac:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Genocide Essay Hawthorne is a great writer and it shows in his symbolism. The Scarlet Letter Essay Paper Example For Students The Scarlet Letter Essay Paper Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1804. His parents were Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hawthorne. When he entered Bowdoin College in 1821, he studied to be a professional writer. He was well aware of the fact that being a writer was not supported by his puritan forefathers and was even looked down upon as a wasted life. In 1842 Nathaniel married Sophia Peabody and they lived in Concord, which was known in that time as the center of transcendentalism, the idealistic philosophy that opposed puritanical and materialistic values. They also lived in the house of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a very famous transcendentalist had lived and written Naturein1836. He later moved to Salem, where after his mothers death in 1849 he started writing The Scarlet Letter. We will write a custom essay on The Scarlet Letter Paper specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The Scarlet Letter, which is set in colonial seventeenth-century New England, was actually written and published in the middle of the nineteenth-century. Because Hawthorne wrote about an earlier time than his book was publish, it is thought to be a historical romance written in the middle of the transcendentalist movement. Even though this was going on at the time of publication, Hawthorne did not put any of his views about this matter in the novel, instead he poked fun at his other colleges that did write about it. Abolitionism was more important in The Scarlet Letter, because Hawthorne saw this as threatening instability in America and thought he should address his concerns through his book. This entire novel takes place in and around the colonial town of Boston, Massachusetts, somewhere around the seventeenth century. At this point in history he describes Boston as being the frontier between the settled sea and the untamed wilderness of the west. He describes what is on the outside of the town as a Black Forest, which is a symbol of evil. Pearl is the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. She first appears in the novel as an infant, again at three years old, and finally at seven. She grows up as an intimate of nature, but like most of the characters in The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is very complex and contradictory. At one point in the book she hates the Puritan elders for what they did to her mother (the game she imagined about the weeds in the garden). Then when her mother tries to throw away the scarlet letter it is her daughter Pearl who insists she wear it again. We learn the most about Pearl when Hawthorne describes her at the age of three. We learned that her beauty was radiant and glowing, and that her hair was a shiny brown. Throughout the novel we see that she is puzzling, with strong mood swings and a fierce temper. Her behavior is so unusual that the Puritans believe she is a demon child. Although Pearl is thought by most readers to be a very strange character, she is really the strongest symbol in the novel, standing for many things. She is an obvious symbol of Hesters sin of adultery. While standing on the scaffold in front of the townspeople Hester realizes that her baby is a symbol when she thinks of covering the scarlet letter with her baby. Also when the baby starts having pains, in chapter 4, she becomes a symbol of the pain Hester has suffered on her day of punishment. Pearls ability to show emotion helped Hawthorne to make her a very vivid symbol throughout the entire novel. The older Pearl gets the more her actions and questions bother her mother. Pearl hates everything the scarlet letter on her mothers breast represents, so every time she sees it she tries to destroy it, which causes her mother great pain. Pearl is also a symbol of her father Dimmesdales living conscience. She is a reminder of what Dimmesdale must do in order to save his soul. .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .postImageUrl , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:hover , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:visited , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:active { border:0!important; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:active , .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4 .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua93fbdba05244def14a68f0a60a1e2b4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Realities Of Homelessness EssayThe Scarlet Letter starts as the narrator describes a prison door. After this elaborate description the door opens to show a woman, Hester Prynne, with a baby and an A embroidered on her breast. She is being punished for the crime of adultery. While serving her punishment, which was to stand on a scaffold before the townspeople,