Personal Identity In The Scarlet Letter

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The complex relationship between personal identity and the society has been portrayed numerous times in the literary world. From Emily Dickinson’s speaker in “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” to Stephen Chbosky’s protagonist Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, various fictional characters and personas have endeavored to define their identities and individualism inside the realm of their society. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” are examples of fictional works which explore this theme. In the two texts, the relation between personal identity and the outside world is shown through the authors’ use of symbols and description of the natural world.
To begin with, there are various symbols present in The Scarlet Letter which serve to juxtapose Hester Prynne’s and the Puritan society’s distinctive perspectives concerning who she is, therefore exposing her personal sense of identity. The most prominent symbol is perhaps the eponymous scarlet letter which Hester is condemned to wear on her bosom. In the beginning of the story, the letter stands for “adulterer”, which reflects how Hester is seen as a sinner and immoral woman by both the society and herself. As the story progresses, this shared view evolves. Hester’s strength, labor and devotion for the underprivileged cause people to view the letter as signifying the word “able” as opposed to its original meaning. Meanwhile, to the unknowing Native Americans, the letter makes Hester seem like “a personage of high dignity among her people.” To Hester, however, the object which initially reminds her of her wrongdoing gradually becomes a part of her identity. Upon hearing that the council is considering to let her remove the letter, Hester expresses...

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... poem becomes “the subjective Romantic spirit personified” (Zweig 243) who assumes a highly personal point of view. At the same time, the natural world also demonstrates equality between individuals and the idea of forming an equal society. For example, the grass which the speaker mentions presents this idea as it is a “uniform hieroglyphic” (Whitman 1) that grows “among black folks as among white” (Whitman 1), therefore implying the notion of egalitarianism.
In conclusion, symbols and description of nature act as devices to illustrate personal identity and its relation to the society in The Scarlet Letter and “Song of Myself.” While Hawthorne uses both devices to contrast personal perspective with the restrictiveness of society, Whitman uses nature to emphasize the significance of personal experience as a part of individuality and the idea of equality in a society.

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