Rhetorical Devices and Lessons in The Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne efficiently conveys his purpose to the audience through the use of numerous rhetorical devices in his novel. Two such rhetorical strategies Hawthorne establishes to convey his purpose of informing the audience of valuable life lessons in The Scarlet Letter are characterization and the theme of duality.

Through the rhetorical device characterization, Hawthorne is able to promote his motive of exposing the audience to the life lesson: People grow stronger by recognizing their own weakness. Hester Prynne, the female protagonist in the Scarlet Letter charged with adultery, is forced to wear the embroidered letter “A” on her chest to symbolize the stigma of her sin. In the beginning of the novel,

Hester despises the letter and wishes to commit suicide and kill her child because she cannot bear the shame the letter brings, characterizing Hester as weak and powerless. As the novel progresses though, Hester proves her own power by raising her daughter alone & working hard to support her. For instance, Hester states, “God gave her into my keeping….I will not give her up!” when Bellingham and Wilson try to part Pearl from Hester. Due to characterization, the audience can recognize the change that occurs in Hester, from being a weak woman shunned by society to becoming a strong, independent woman who uses the scarlet letter, her weakness, as a pathway free herself of society’s clutches and thoughts. Not only did Hester recognize her strength, but so did others when the novel states “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."