Scarlet Letter Theme

Table of Content

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates the social outcast of a sinned member of the puritan society accused of adultery. The story follows the life of Hester Prone and how she contends with difficulties with her public shaming. Although, the Scarlet Letter is the true symbol that grows in meaning throughout the story. Text-to-Itself: Nathaniel Hawthorne makes the novel seem as If Its not Fulton by starting It with a preamble called the Custom House.

The Custom House talks about a narrator who was never named, and like Hester from the novel felt alienated but not from society Itself but at his work. The narrator shares many characteristics as Nathaniel Hawthorne himself but is a chief executive officer of the Salem Custom House. The narrator bored at his work one day discovers documents that held the Scarlet Letter and an account by a customs surveyor who held account of a women ostracizes of puritan society few hundred years the past.

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The narrator who tried so hard to entertain himself in his writing now has a idea to create his romance and soon became known as the Scarlet Letter. The narrator uses many symbols throughout the story which develop into deeper meaning as the novel develops. For example, the author uses the Scarlet Letter to express Hester soul motives of life and how she dealt with Its shame and sin. The Scarlet Letter for Hester daughter Pearl symbolizes the affair between her mother and Timescale but as a child a letter A seems a useless punishment to be worn as public shame.

The author uses many exclamation sentences to express the energy used in the characters arguments between what’s right and wrong. As a major feature Hester daughter Pearl symbolizes a physical form of the Scarlet Letter. The narrator makes pearl a representation of her mothers sin of adultery and makes Pearl supposed to be a mere punishment of her sins. But, instead Pearl grows to be Hester motive to live and strive forward and solve problems with her public shame. The so called punishment for Hester has transformed to become her blessing and ideal child of Puritan society.

Text-to-Text: The Scarlet Letter can be connected to stories of the Bible. For example, the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. With this knowledge, Adam and Eve discover that they are human and are not like the other creatures that pertain to the garden. Disobeying the law of God to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve are forced out from the Garden. They are forced to learn the human nature that we all follow today or other words know the meaning to be human.

Hester Scarlet Letter allows her to see the life many women would not dare to enter allowing her a different perspective of the puritan society and herself. Timescale also contemplates with his own sin such as Hester but, not from ostracism but by giving sermons the express his empathy of his sin and society. The puritan elders unlike bringing evil into peoples lives ostracize them from God. Hester and Timescale are figuratively Adam and Eve while the puritan elders are God who publicly shamed the two people who sinned and disobeyed the law. Ext-toward: The Scarlet Letter can be related to anyone or anything in the world. For example, high school has many student who are excluded from many cliques and social groups. Either for personal deficiencies or does not meet the social status to stay in a certain clique. Like Hester she made a wrong decision in her life and was ostracizes from her society and forced to deal with her public shame. Many individuals in high school or society itself learn the main Hester went through for a short period of time.

But, such as Hester these individuals learn to achieve personal development and learn who they really are not Nat society sees in them. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne explains the story given by an unnamed narrator about a women named Hester Prone, who undergoes the exclusion from society. She is forced to wear the marking of the Scarlet Letter as a punishment of committing adultery. SHe uses this marking to learn the truth behind her society and the truth of herself in personal and spiritual beliefs. Hester soon learns to live with the marking and not feel the public shame.

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