Symbols in The Scarlet Letter
What is a symbol? And what is symbolism?
-Symbolism: using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning
-Literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight
-Representative of several other aspects, concepts, and/or traits than those that are visible in the literal translation
Rose bush/Prison door  Hope/Hopeless  Forgiveness of sin
-"heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes"
-never having known "a youthful era," (innocence)
-"marked with weather-stains and other indications of age"
-The prison represents the harsh justice of the Puritans, then that surprising rosebush represents kindness and forgiveness.
*The iron door is everything that's strict and unrelenting in Puritan society, while the rosebush seems to represent the concept of
"grace" or forgiveness.
*In Christian thought, grace is "unmerited mercy": forgiveness of sins even though forgiveness is undeserved.
* Since the prison is a place of darkness and sin, the beauty of a wild rose bush growing in such an unexpected place symbolizes
God's grace. By starting us off with this ugly door and beautiful rosebush, Hawthorne is letting us know that these issues of justice
versus mercy; punishment versus forgiveness; and judgment versus grace.
Pearl  The irony of the name
-Represents the price of sin and the possibility of redemption
*Hester names her daughter Pearl "as being of great price—purchased with all she had—her mother's only treasure!" (Allusion to
the book of Matthew chp. 13)
*On the one hand, Hester loves Pearl because she had to suffer so much to get her—not just in childbirth, but also because she's a
perpetual outcast. In exchange for Pearl, she gave up everything else: her reputation, her community, and even her religion.
*Pearl also ends up being Dimmesdale's "pearl of great price": when he finally acknowledges her, he gives up his life… but in return
he gains forgiveness from God.
*Key moment for Pearl-as-symbol, including for Pearl-as-character, is the moment that she gets to stop being a symbol.
~When she
kisses her dying father, her tears
become a pledge to "be a
woman" in the world—no longer
a symbol of sin (and
possibly grace), but a real, living,
breathing woman.
The Scarlet Letter  One letter, multiple meanings
-It symbolizes adultery, sin, hard work, skill, charity, morality, sacredness, and, of course, grace.
*At first, there's no question: it symbolizes the sin of adultery, and Hester wears it as punishment. But from the very beginning,
she's not willing to let it dictate the terms of her punishment. She has to make the letter beautiful. By embroidering the "A" so finely
and ornately, Hester takes control of her own punishment.
*The letter showcases her talent and artistry, skills that allow her to make a living as a single parent in Puritan Boston. As
Hester Prynne builds a new life, her hard work and charity end up altering the letter's meaning and the townspeople forget, or
choose to forget, it’s original meaning. Instead, they say that the "A" stands for "Able"—as in, Hester is such an able woman.
*Eventually, the letter even achieves a kind of holiness. It has "the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom. It imparted to the
wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril. Had she fallen among thieves, it would have kept
her safe".
*Many years later, when Hester returns and voluntarily takes up the scarlet letter again, it has become, for her and others, a
symbol of grace: "a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked up with awe, yet with reverence too" (24.11).
The Mark on Dimmesdale’s Chest
-The physical manifestation of the minister's guilt, but we never quite learn how it gets here. We know that he likes to hang out in a
secret room and whip himself, so it's possible that he carved it there himself; but there's also the suggestion that it just sort of arose
spontaneously, like maybe it's a guilt-rash, or something. However it got there, it shows us that Hester isn't the only one with bodily
consequences for sin. Although he refuses to confess and be punished, his sin ultimately marks his body even more permanently than
either Hester's scarlet letter or her child: the child grows up, the scarlet letter can be taken off, but Dimmesdale's mark is with him until
he dies.
The Black Man
-The Black Man is a euphemism for Satan in this book.
-Hester considers the scarlet letter A to be the Black Man's mark, and Pearl wonders aloud if the Black Man left his brand on
Dimmesdale's heart. Our narrator loves to compare Chillingworth to Satan as well.
-By invoking Satan, our narrator raises the question of whether humans are innately good or evil, and whether they truly choose to be evil
or whether evil happens by accident. The Puritans definitely like to use the Black Man as a symbol of all evil, making evil something
separate from common human life.
The Forest and The Wilderness
-The forest is the unknown. It's outside of the town, it's full of American Indians and scary creatures, and, worst of all, it's utterly lawless.
The town is ruled by law and religion; the forest a place of passion and emotion.
-But while the Puritans seem to be kind of terrified of the forest, the narrator isn't. The narrator associates Nature with kindness and love
from the very beginning of this story, when the wild rosebush reminds all that "the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him".
-But the woods can be dangerous, too. After a few hours in the woods with Hester, Dimmesdale becomes so mischievous that he can
hardly keep himself from whispering an "unanswerable argument against the immortality of the human soul".
-Or what about the brook and everything that Pearl plays with:
-If life on the town is all surface and appearance and rules, then life in the forest is all depth and emotion. And you can't live like that—
you can't live in the woods. But you sure can visit every once in a while.
Point of View  Third Person Omniscient
Our narrator is omniscient, all right. Here's a good example:
She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest, amid the gloom of
which they were now holding a colloquy that was to decide their fate. (18.2)
He's describing Hester's willingness to drop everything and run away with Dimmesdale. She can think these crazy thoughts because she's been
outside of the community for so long. But notice that he doesn't actually tell us what she thinks. He describes it. This narrator is much more of a
show-er than a tell-er, which—we'll be honest—can make the book a wee bit challenging to read. There's a lot of philosophizing, and a lot of
revealing secret thoughts and actions.
Of course, we're pretty sure that Hawthorne knows what he's doing. Remember, he's got this whole story of finding the documents and the letters
in the custom-house, so The Scarlet Letter is supposed to be a kind of history. But it's not just any kind of history; it's the history of two people
caught up in religious and social forces way, way outside of their control. It may be about individual sin, but it's also about the epic conflict of
different worldviews—so, it needs a narrator who's not afraid to get epic.