Comprehensive Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
Comprehensive Analysis of the Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an exceptional novel based on sin, forgiveness, and deception. Hester, the main character, has committed the sin of adultery to an unknown man. She lives in Boston and is a puritan, which does not accept sin and lives by the strict, Puritan code. Hester’s sin is unveiled when she bears a child by the name of Pearl and has no husband at that time. Hester punishment is not death because her husband is gone, and temptation over ran her heart. Throughout the novel, the author uses symbols to entertain the reader and help explain the story. Many symbols come from settings such as, the scaffold scenes, the forest, and the light and darkness from the sun.
The scaffold scenes contain many symbols that prove to be essential to the novel. The definition of scaffold is a platform used for the execution of a criminal. Ironically, this is a puritan village, which in turn should not need a scaffold because of faith and love. The scaffold, in this novel, is a platform used for redemption and a symbol of the stern Puritan code. “It was, in short, the platform of the pillory; and above it rose the framework of that instrument of discipline, so fashioned as to confine the human head in its tight grasp, and thus hold it up to the public gaze.” (Hawthorne 51) Hester's punishment for her sin of adultery is to wear the letter “A” on her bosom and stand on the scaffold in front of the whole town to see her and her child. By using the scaffold as place where Hester’s forgiven and repented, the author symbolizes how important the scaffold is to the novel. Because Hester had to stand on the scaffold for repentance so must the father of the baby, Dimmesdale, which is unknown to this point. Though many times Dimmesdale asks for forgiveness, he failed because he has not stood on the scaffold in front of the people, with Hester and Pearl. When Dimmesdale is dying, he feels that he is able to stand on the scaffold and ask for forgiveness, along side with Hester and Pearl. Another symbol, at every scaffold scene Dimmesdale, Hester, Pearl, Chillingworth, are all present showing how...