The Scarlet Letter Symbolism
The Symbolization of A Ever read a book with motifs or symbols that mean more than the author leads on to? Symbolization is used throughout literature to foreshadow and define certain situation or characters. In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne the main character, Hester Prynne is guilty of committing adultery. Hester is punished to stand on the scaffold for three hours to be shamed by the townspeople and to wear a crimson letter A. Hester’s tombstone will have the letter A engraved on it so Hester’s sin will never be forgotten. Hester has an affair with Dimmesdale while being married to the Chillingworth which resulted in the birth of Pearl. Hester refuses to tell the town who is the father of Pearl which leads people
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At first when Pearl not accused of anything or looked down on, but later people believe Pearl is the offspring of the devil due to her mischievous nature. Later when Hester is trying to teach Pearl that she is a child of god Pearl shouts“I have no Heavenly Father!”(97). Pearl refuses to see god as her holy father, but will ask about the “black man”(167) and whether she may talk to him or hear stories about him. The black man is a motif of the devil. Pearl asks her mother if Hester has ever met him in the forest and if she can as well. There are many a time where Pearl warns Hester about the black man as Chillingworth is consumed by the thought of revenge and he is begins to resemble the black man, but there are times where Pearl wishes to hear stories about him. Pearl wishes to hear about how “ he sets his mark on their bosoms!” (167). Pearl wants to know more about Hester’s crimson letter and inquires about it many times but Hester does not tell Pearl what the letter means because Hester thinks Pearl is too young to understand. At times Pearl shows kindness to the red letter on her mother’s bosom by kissing it which disturbs Hester. There is a time when Hester and Pearl are by the sea when Pearl makes a letter A of her own out of green seaweed. Pearl asked her mother when was she going to get A of her own. Throughout the book Pearl is described as “emblem and product of sin” (83) and a “scarlet letter endowed with life” (91). When Pearl is dressed in red she bears a resemblance to the letter A and characters in the book see this like when a group of children say “there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along her [Hester] side” (91). When Hester goes to visit the hall to keep Pearl to fight for keeping Pearl Dimmesdale helps them by arguing that Hester was given Pearl as a way to repent and explaining that Pearl is made of her“ father’s guilt and mother’s shame hath
At first when Pearl not accused of anything or looked down on, but later people believe Pearl is the offspring of the devil due to her mischievous nature. Later when Hester is trying to teach Pearl that she is a child of god Pearl shouts“I have no Heavenly Father!”(97). Pearl refuses to see god as her holy father, but will ask about the “black man”(167) and whether she may talk to him or hear stories about him. The black man is a motif of the devil. Pearl asks her mother if Hester has ever met him in the forest and if she can as well. There are many a time where Pearl warns Hester about the black man as Chillingworth is consumed by the thought of revenge and he is begins to resemble the black man, but there are times where Pearl wishes to hear stories about him. Pearl wishes to hear about how “ he sets his mark on their bosoms!” (167). Pearl wants to know more about Hester’s crimson letter and inquires about it many times but Hester does not tell Pearl what the letter means because Hester thinks Pearl is too young to understand. At times Pearl shows kindness to the red letter on her mother’s bosom by kissing it which disturbs Hester. There is a time when Hester and Pearl are by the sea when Pearl makes a letter A of her own out of green seaweed. Pearl asked her mother when was she going to get A of her own. Throughout the book Pearl is described as “emblem and product of sin” (83) and a “scarlet letter endowed with life” (91). When Pearl is dressed in red she bears a resemblance to the letter A and characters in the book see this like when a group of children say “there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along her [Hester] side” (91). When Hester goes to visit the hall to keep Pearl to fight for keeping Pearl Dimmesdale helps them by arguing that Hester was given Pearl as a way to repent and explaining that Pearl is made of her“ father’s guilt and mother’s shame hath