Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, is a story about sin and redemption, the light and darkness of these areas, and the appearance of to what something means and what significance it carries with it. The Scarlet Letter, takes place within a puritan community in Massachusetts during the Seventeenth century. Where a young woman moves into this community and waits for 2 years for her husband to return, while her husband is away she has an affair with the reverend Dimmesdale. The young woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, Peal. She is then punished by the town leaders for committing adultery, and is sentenced to stand on the town scaffold for the town to stare at her. She is required to wear a letter “A” on her bosom for
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Hester’s Character is at first beautiful and after she grows closer to the scarlet letter she is seen within the darkness and shadows. However, once she takes off her bonnet and throws away the letter, she finally transforms and becomes free of her sin. Immediately after she does this her light comes back and she is beautiful once again. This is her exposure to Pearl, as well as her exposure to the adulterous sin. Pearl does not have anything to expose but she does witness Hester in her transformation from light to dark then back to light. Pearl, in this scene, for the first time expresses human emotions. This happens in her mother’s light. Roger Chillingworth is the dark force in this story. He suffices that the truth of Dimmesdale and Hester comes from their own guilty feelings. This is why Chillingworth is the tool for exposing the truth. Finally, Dimmesdale is the character that wants to be with his family but cannot due to the social response and criticism he would have to deal with as being the priest. During his whole life after the birth of Pearl, Dimmesdale confronts Chillingworth on many occasions of him trying to break down the truth from him. Dimmesdale stays strong and is able to keep the truth secret but he does miss his family and punishes himself to remind him of what he did. This novel shows the use of light and dark imagery for each character showing what their appearance may say it is not how they really are, the point of this novel is clear, and that there are certain people who embrace the truth and then some who avoid
Hester’s Character is at first beautiful and after she grows closer to the scarlet letter she is seen within the darkness and shadows. However, once she takes off her bonnet and throws away the letter, she finally transforms and becomes free of her sin. Immediately after she does this her light comes back and she is beautiful once again. This is her exposure to Pearl, as well as her exposure to the adulterous sin. Pearl does not have anything to expose but she does witness Hester in her transformation from light to dark then back to light. Pearl, in this scene, for the first time expresses human emotions. This happens in her mother’s light. Roger Chillingworth is the dark force in this story. He suffices that the truth of Dimmesdale and Hester comes from their own guilty feelings. This is why Chillingworth is the tool for exposing the truth. Finally, Dimmesdale is the character that wants to be with his family but cannot due to the social response and criticism he would have to deal with as being the priest. During his whole life after the birth of Pearl, Dimmesdale confronts Chillingworth on many occasions of him trying to break down the truth from him. Dimmesdale stays strong and is able to keep the truth secret but he does miss his family and punishes himself to remind him of what he did. This novel shows the use of light and dark imagery for each character showing what their appearance may say it is not how they really are, the point of this novel is clear, and that there are certain people who embrace the truth and then some who avoid