A Rhetorical Analysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlett Letter in 1850 but the events take place in the 1600’s. In the introduction, Hawthorne explains to the audience why he is writing another autobiographical book and maybe how it might not be “about” him but it somehow relates to him. Hawthorne says he wrote the autobiography for those who enjoy reading him and for those who follow him and his writings. Hawthorne primarily uses his persona, his complex syntax, and his carful arrangement to convey his purpose to explain his inspiration for The Scarlett Letter to his adult, Christian, and sympathetic audience.
Hawthorne establishes a persona as being a humble person. He says that this will be his second autobiography, even though he does not like talking

about himself that much. He also establishes the point that this story ill not be a confessional about him. Making this point, justifies Hawthorne on why he is writing about himself and establishes his persona as being humble. In the second paragraph, he continues to justify his purpose for writing the novel, which means his persona is not just humble, but also as a person who explains things. His persona established as the editor, which is complete fiction.
Hawthorne’s audience is stated within the first couple of sentences in the introduction. The reader can understand the audience is stated and implied. The story was published during civil unrest in the United States. One religion seemed to be dominant throughout the states, that being Christianity. His audience would dominantly be Adult Christian males, who were able to read and were fans of Hawthorne’s through his good writings and his bad. He had to avoid any social biases in his writings because he could form some enemies and lose some fans.
The arrangement of Hawthorne’s introduction is brilliantly constructed to demonstrate his main purpose and his inspiration. The purpose of the piece was to be explanatory on why writing “The Scarlett Letter” and to be informative as well. His purpose also was to explain his inspiration, which was the artifact while working in Salem’s Common House. His purpose for writing the novel. Hawthorne states his purpose throughout the two paragraphs. The arrangement allows for Hawthorne to communicate with his audience his purpose and his inspiration.