Scarlet Letter Nature Vs Nature Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter: Nature vs. Nature

One of the central themes of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the idea of how nature bridges a connection with human beings. In the novel, it can be thought that Hawthorne portrays nature as a human like entity. That is, in the novel, nature, much like a human, is capable of observing, responding to, reacting to, and interacting with the characters. That being said, in this case, nature goes by both definitions of the word: nature as the wild, untamed outdoors, as well as human nature. As each day cycles through night and day (or light and darkness), so do the events (of the novel) take place during the light of day, or under the cover of darkness. What should be noted

More specifically, light is seen as a symbol of purity, much like the white dress at a wedding. Alternatively, darkness is generally associated with evil doings and impure actions. These ideas are very similar to how Hawthorne portrays light (the sun, the day) and dark (the night, the moon). For instance, when Hester steps into the forest with Pearl, Pearl immediately finds the sunlight, whereas Hester is rejected by the sun. Pearl makes an important observation that, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 167). Because Hester has sinned, and is no longer pure in the eyes of society, she is shunned by the sun. To further the point, soon after, when Hester and Dimmesdale are conversing, Hester throws away her scarlet letter. As she is throwing the letter to the ground, it can be thought of as throwing away her sin. After she does so, “forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest” (Hawthorne 186). Again, the light deciding to shine on Hester at that very moment, is indicative that the light only accepts Hester when she is free of sin. All this to say that the sun, like a human, makes decisions. In this case, the decision would be either to grace you with its presence or to refrain from doing

In town, Hester and Dimmesdale have to keep up appearances. Most specifically, Dimmesdale has to keep up his appearance as a minister. A minister is sought to be a holy, revered messenger. Because of this, although they are both guilty, in town, they are not allowed to communicate. The forest, unlike the town, acts as a sort of free place where they can be who they desire. They can let their human nature’s interact freely. In the forest, they can have a connection full of passion and emotion that is altogether not possible in town, where morals and laws dictate the types of relationships and meetings people have. The forest is a place for Hester and Dimmesdale to meet in "solitude, and love, and anguish" (Hawthorne 219). Apart from the forest, the lives of Hester and Dimmesdale are anything but lovely and tranquil. The forest gives the couple a chance at harmony, in their otherwise complicated