Since the conception of humanity, man has been fascinated with that presence which illuminates, yet cannot be touched. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light as a tool of God that illuminates and exposes the darkness of human iniquity not only to one’s elf but to others as well.
As the symbolism is quickly unfolded in chapter seven, Governor Bellingham’s home is seen through Hester’s eyes and light is reflected by almost every object in his extravagant dwelling, "though partly muffled by a curtain, it was more powerfully illuminated by one of those embowed hall windows..." . this can be seen symbolically, the brilliant sunlight streaming though the immense window, cutting through the veneer of the Governor's mock purity. Bellingham, the very person that passed judgment on Hester and her sin is seen, illuminated by the sunshine, as a malevolent man wallowing in his own stagnant riches. Here, light shows Governor Bellingham to be corrupt due to his un-puritan-like lifestyle.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne defines light not only as a presence, but as an animate being. Still acting as a tool of God, light seems to run away from Hester when she tries to touch it. Pearl, in her enigmatic perceptiveness, says to Hester, “The sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom.” Although Pearl makes this comment concerning the scarlet "A", this implies that the sunlight is actually afraid of Hester's sin, and not the scarlet "A". In this case, light is used to remind Hester of her sin and to bring it to the front of her mind as punishment for her adultery.
Not only does light show Hester's sin to herself, it shows her sin to others as well. Near the end of the story, Mistress Hibbins speaks with Hester, "I know thee, Hester; for I behold the token. We may all see it in the sunshine; and it glows like a red flame in the dark." By shining on the explicit reminder of Hester's sin, the sunlight screams to others of the scarlet letter's intangible counterpart: her immorality.
Early in the novel, Pearl notices that sunlight strays away from Hester: “Mother, said little Pearl, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 166). This shows that the scarlet letter and the sin, wanted to stay in the darkness, and that the light did not want touch Hester’s sinful body. Even young Pearl is able to recognize the evilness associated with the scarlet letter and how the light shy’s away from it due to its absence of good. In a scene later in the novel, sunlight shines on Hester when she removes the scarlet letter A from her bosom: “she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves. . . All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest” (Hawthorne 184-185). The light represents the purity that Hester desires. Once Hester frees herself from the evilness and sin associated with the scarlet letter, she is showered in sunlight, which reveals the good nature that lies within her. This signifies a rebirth, and also reiterates the symbol of
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a truly outstanding author. His detailed descriptions and imagery will surely keep people interested in reading The Scarlet Letter for years to come. In writing this book he used themes evident throughout the entirety of the novel. These themes are illustrated in what happens to the characters and how they react. By examining how these themes affect the main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, one can obtain a better understanding of what Hawthorne was trying to impress upon his readers.
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
Through the public eye, Hester is a sinner who demonstrates the effect of punishment on sensitivity and human nature. She is seen as a fallen woman, a culprit who deserves the sordidness of her immoral deed. Over the seven years of her punishment, Hester's inner conflict changes from a victim of Puritan branding to a determined woman in touch with human nature. When she meets Dimmesdale in the forest in Chapter 18, Hawthorne says, "The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread."
The scarlet letter A marks sin and inflicts punishment for it. It primarily represents open sin and it consequences, such as public shame, as it is worn upon Hester’s breast to punish her for adultery. The ignominy of the letter devastates Hester. “If she survive, the tenderness will either be crushed out of her, or . . . crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more” (Chapter 13 p. 148). She is tormented by the anguish of her humiliation. Through this she loses much of her tenderness and passion and reverts to be being cold and numb. The pain of her sin numbs her to her own pain. ...
Hester is being considered as the devil (Bellis 1), which is a sign that the town’s people are slanderous and judgmental. Their judgment has caused her to be isolated. “… A woman who had once been innocent…” is now considered as “…the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 39). They look at her as a threat diminishing their community’s chance for purification because “there was the taint of deepest sin…” (Hawthorne 24). My apprehension of Pearl is that she is the fruit of evil, because she is seen as “immortal” (Hawthorne 11). Because, she has caused a ruckus, her immoral acts have disturbed the nature of their society. They think this is morally correct because, “Political and generational ambivalence has its psychological counterpart…” (Bellis 2), which give them the right to make her an evil outcast.
When Hester first steps out of the prison it is to be expected for her to be somewhat broken from the experience of being a prisoner, and yet she stands tall, with a “haughty demeanor” (53) as if to show her strength and perhaps to mock the very law that put her in the prison. Hester is put on the scaffold to exploit her shame, and when she is first arriving to the scaffold she places herself upon it without hesitation in a manner that almost seems shameless. Presented in all of its beauty, the scarlet letter symbolizes Hester’s artistry and imagination that thrives in her at this early point in the novel. Although Hester outwardly carries herself in a confident way, she is feeling the weight of the situation on the inside, she even goes to give a “bitter and disdainful” (55) smile to the crowd, and all the while feels the need to scream or completely go mad. Eventually Hester has to look down at the child in her arms and realize that the shame of the letter and th...
Chapter 5 of the book, “Hester at Her Needle” gives Hester’s account on her days after she is released from prison. It is a very sunny day which is usually supposed to represent a happy setting with a bright future ahead. However Hester automatically thinks that the sunlight is specifically there to reveal the scarlet letter that is sewn onto the chest of her dress. The steps that she takes out of the prison represent the steps that she will take to her new life that is full of loneliness and scorn. Her future is very grim-being cut off from the townspeople as well as from a normal life. Hawthorne goes on to describe here that “To-morrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next; each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so unutterably grievous to be born...
First, Hester is a main symbol in the book and she is a symbol of sin, confession, shame, and repentance. The first two symbols Hester represents are shame and sin. She has committed adultery and was forced to stand on the scaffold for public humiliation. She has to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’. The scarlet letter ‘A’ stands for adultery and is a symbol of shame. Hester is forced to wear this so she will always be reminded of the sin she has committed and so everyone knows that she has committed adultery. Although Hester has to wear the scarlet letter, she is a very strong, independent woman even without a male influence in her life. Hester is also a symbol of strength because she has to hold all of the shame and punishment in the sin that her and Reverend Dimmesdale committed. On Election Day Reverend Dimmesdale gives his sermon and people say it is the most powerful speech he has ever given. They think that
Hester's fantastically embellished red letter takes on many meanings as a symbol. The gold thread with which the letter is embroidered symbolizes Hester's mockery of the Puritan way of punishment. A female spectator in the market place remarks, "Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make a pride out of what they ... meant for a punishment?" (Hawthorne 61). The embellishment of the letter physically displays Hester's reaction to her punishment. Her strong will not only accepts the challenge that the Puritan church has laid before her, but she also laughs in mockery at it. The scarlet letter also shows the triviality of the community's system of punishment. Whenever Hester walks outside of her cottag...
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
The scarlet letter serves as a punishment for Hester’s adultery, an act that grew out of her passionate love with Dimmesdale. Like a burn, it is a painful reminder of the affection and intimacy they once shared. The symbol is ...
Hester tries to stretch her hand into the circle of light, but the sunshine vanishes (192). She then suggests that they go into the forest and rest (193). This short scene actually represents Hester's daily struggle in life. The light represents what Hester wants to be, which is pure. The movement of the light represents Hester's constant denial of acceptance. Hester's lack of surprise and quick suggestion to go into the forest, where it is dark, shows that she never expected to be admitted and is resigned to her station in life. Another way light and darkness is used in symbolism is by the way Hester and Dimmesdale's plan to escape is doomed. Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the shadows of the forest with a gloomy sky and a threatening storm overhead when they discuss their plans for the future (200). The gloomy weather and shadows exemplify the fact that they can't get away from the repressive force of their sins. It is later proven when Dimmesdale dies on the scaffold instead of leaving with Hester and going to England (269). A final example occurs by the way Hester and Dimmesdale can not acknowledge their love in front of others. When they meet in the woods, they feel that, "No golden light had ever been so precious as the gloom of this dark forest (206). This emotion foretells that they will never last together openly because their sin has separated them too much from normal life. The scarlet letter also takes many different forms in the novel. The first and clearest form that the letter A takes is "Adulteress.
Hawthorne consistently places Hester in shade to portray her as sinful and hiding the truth. In the beginning of the novel, Hester spends days in prison with Pearl. When Hester and Pearl are finally released, Hester is described as "a black shadow emerging into the sunshine"(49). Within the sunshine is a sinless group of plebeians awaiting the emergence of Hester. In another important scene, Pearl and Hester visit Governor Bellingham's mansion. Bellingham greets Hester with four men at his side. One of the men is Hester's "partner in crime," Arthur Dimmesdale. As soon as he enters the room, a shadow from the window curtain is cast upon Hester. Both Hester and Dimmesdale are trying to conceal Dimmesdale's sin just as the shadow is concealing Hester. Even in Hester's own secluded cabin, she is not welcome into light. In chapter 13, Hester can only be contained in her "darkened house"(148). When sunshine is present, she is not and her shadow fades "across the threshold"(148). Hawthorne continues to impound the idea of Hester's concealment in a scene taken place in the forest. As Hester and Pearl walk through the forest to meet Dimmesdale, sunshine is erased with each step Hester takes. Even Pearl notices this and says, ."..The sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself..."(168). Hawthorne cannot get any more apparent with his symbolism of dark involving Hester.
First of all, the scarlet letter stands for Hester's sin. By forcing Hester to wear the letter A on her bosom, the Puritan community not only punishes this weak young woman for her adultery but labels her identity as an adulteress and immoral human being as well. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest", also "as the figure, the body and the reality of sin." And the day Hester began to wear the scarlet A on her bosom is the opening of her darkness. From that moment, people, who look at her, must notice the letter A manifest itself in the red color covering not only her bosom, but her own character. The Puritans now only see the letter A, the representation of sin, scorn and hate rather than a real living Hester, and her presence seems to disappear in front of their eyes.