Scarlet Letters Use Of Symbolism To Show Psychological Effects Of Sin :: essays research papers

     "The actgross and brief, and brings loathing after it." This was utter by St. Augustine, regarding immorality. This is detect to be very true by the of import characters in The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthornes story of a woman (Hester) who lives with the Puritans and commits adultery with the local minister (Dimmesdale). In his novel, Hawthorne shows that sin, k this instantn or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and from God. He shows us this by symbols in nature more or less the town, inwrought symbols in the heavens, and nature in the forest.First we go across twain symbols in the town that show how sin isolates people. In the first chapter we see a plant which stands out, "But on one side of the portal, and grow almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, coveredwith its delicate gems" (Hawthorne, 46). This rosebush is same(p) Hester, for it too stands out as wild and different. She wears her scarlet letter among the solemnly dressed Puritans as this rosebush wears its scarlet blossoms amidst a small plot of hit and weeds. They both stand separate from their surroundings. Later in the book we notice a conversation between Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth (Hesters unknown husband). They are discussing the origin of a strange dark plant that Chillingworth discovered. "I found them growing on a grave which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the knackered man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typifysome hideous secret that was buried with him" (Hawthorne, 127). here we have a special case of one who was not discovered by men to have sinned during their lifetime. However, having avoided punishment in life, this person has been isolate in death. This person tried to keep wrongdoing a secret, secrecy it within himself. Yet the sins committed could not be kept secret, testify by their final disclosure shortly after death. There remains nothing honorable to show where this person lies, but rather genetic mutation weeds that grew out of the blackness of the persons heart. The final resting place of the wrongdoer has now been separated from other graves as the sins are manifested by natural powers.The next area is symbols in the skies. Our first instance occurs during the second famous scaffold scene. Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are atop the scaffold when, "a featherbrained gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky.