How Nathanial Hawthorn has used several object and character to symbolize something.

1. Symbolism in
‘The Scarlet Letter’

2.  Born : July 4, 1804
Salem, Massachusetts, United
States
 Died : May 19, 1864 (aged 59)
Plymouth, New Hampshire,
United States
 Language : English
 Notable works :
 The House of the Seven
Gables,
 Twice-Told Tales,
 The Scarlet Letter

3. The Scarlet Letter : Hester's shame
Pearl : sort of living version
Meteor : traces out an “A” in the night sky
Gray : concealment and secrets
Letter ‘A’ : sin of adultery
scaffold : corroboration of personal sin

4. The Scarlet Letter
 The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame,
but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity
to Hester.
 The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes.
 Hester as an adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to
stand for “Able.” Finally, it becomes indeterminate: the
Native Americans who come to watch the Election Day
pageant think it marks her as a person of importance
and status.
 Like Pearl, the letter functions as a physical reminder
of Hester’s affair with Dimmesdale. But, compared
with a human child, the letter seems insignificant, and
thus helps to point out the ultimate meaninglessness
of the community’s system of judgment and
punishment..

5.  The child has been sent from God, or at least
from nature, but the letter is merely a
human contrivance. Additionally, the
instability of the letter’s apparent meaning
calls into question society’s ability to use
symbols for ideological reinforcement.
 A symbol becomes a focal point for critical
analysis and debate

6.  "A" is the literal symbol of the
sin of adultery.
 The letter A then appears in
many different forms
throughout the novel.
 The gold-embroidered A on
Hester Prynne's fascinates
Pearl Prynne.
 And finally, the letter is
revealed on Dimmsdale's chest
in front of the whole village.

7.  The A also takes on many meanings. It has the original
meaning as well as different meanings to various
characters.
 To Hester, the A means humiliation.
 The A to Dimmesdale is a reminder of his own contrition.
 To Pearl, the A is peculiarity and Roger Chillingworth sees
the A as a journey for retaliation.
 The A can also stand for "Angel" and "Able". Angel, for it
appears in the sky after Governor Winthrop's death.
 Able, for Hester has won the respect of the Puritans even if
she has sinned terribly.

8.  As Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold
with Hester and Pearl in Chapter 12, a
meteor traces out an “A” in the night
sky.
 To Dimmesdale, the meteor implies
that he should wear a mark of shame
just as Hester does.
 The meteor is interpreted differently by
the rest of the community, which thinks
that it stands for “Angel” and marks
Governor Winthrop’s entry into heaven.
 “Angel” is an awkward reading of the
symbol. The Puritans commonly looked
to symbols to confirm divine
sentiments.
 The incident with the meteor obviously
highlights and exemplifies two different
uses of symbols: Puritan and literary.

9.  The scaffold is mentioned
numerously throughout the
novel for a substantial reason.
 The scaffold is not only a symbol
of Puritan code but becomes a
symbol for a corroboration of
personal sin.
 It is the place where
Dimmesdale knows he must go
for requital, the only place he
can escape from Chillingworth's
diminutive leash.

10.  Pearl is a complex character, her primary
function within the novel is as a symbol.
 She is a sort of living version of her
mother’s scarlet letter. She is the physical
consequence of sexual sin and the indicator
of a transgression. Yet, even as a reminder
of Hester’s “sin,” Pearl is more than a mere
punishment to her mother: she is also a
blessing.
 She represents not only “sin” but also the
vital spirit and passion that engendered
that sin.
 Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to
live, bolstering her spirits when she is
tempted to give up. It is only after
Dimmesdale is revealed to be Pearl’s father
that Pearl can become fully “human.”
 she functions in a symbolic capacity as the
reminder of an unsolved mystery.

11. 
The forest is a very symbolic place.
 It can be interpreted in three different
ways.
 The first mode is as an evil place where
souls are signed away to the devil.
 The forest is a place where darkness
and gloom conquers.
 Finding a path to guide you through
this forest is what Hester has been
trying to find over her years.
 The forest also is symbolic for it is a
place where Pearl can run and play and
Hester can let her hair down without
society frowning upon them.

12.  The entire atmosphere is
gray.
 The skies and clothing of the
people of the town are always
dark.
 This darkness symbolizes
concealment and secrets.
 Darkness usually always
represents a world of evil.
 The brightness of the day,
however, is the symbol of
exposure, where everything
is seen.

13.  The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is generally considered
to be the first American symbolic novel. A symbol is something which
is used to represent something broader in meaning.
 The Scarlet Letter it self is the central symbol. It changes meanings
for the characters in the novel as Hester’s character changes, the A
becomes pathway to redemption for some characters as well. Watch
the many ways Hawthorne uses the scarlet A as a symbol.
 The Scarlet Letter is a book filled with symbolism.
 Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is an amazingly written book for its
time with just the right amount of powerful symbolism.

14.  The Scarlet Letter is a book filled with
symbolism.
 Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is an
amazingly written book for its time with just
the right amount of powerful symbolism.