Duality In Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne’s romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around the themes of sin and concealment. In this novel, the protagonist Hester bears the scarlet letter, a reminder of her sin in society. However, governor Dimmesdale hides his sin, eventually causing a sense of internal conflict that manifests him. After struggling with his sin, the governor repents, causing both Hester and him to become one with their sins. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses dualities to reveal that society has an immense amount of sin that is able to manifest. Specifically, Hawthorne uses the paradox of light and dark, symbolizing truth and concealment respectively, to admonish society against the ubiquity of sin yet to also inform them of the cathartic effects that confession has.
In the forest scene, Hawthorne uses the light and dark duality to juxtapose truth with sin in order to reveal the prevalence of sin. When Hester and Pearl are in the forest, “Overhead was a …show more content…
Through the forest scene, Hawthorne uses the symbol of the sun to symbolize the specks of truth in the world of darkness to reveal the possibility, yet rarity, of truth and innocence in the otherwise ignominious society. Furthermore, through the symbol of the sun, Hawthorne reveals the ability of society to spoil one’s born nature of truth. However, Hawthorne, through this duality, also reveals the power of confessing one’s sins, as he asserts that it has the ability for one to come at one with both oneself and society. Finally, Hawthorne shows that through confession, one can lift oneself out of depression and ultimately towards contentment and happiness. Thus, through the light and dark duality, Hawthorne explores the state of society and warns society about the prevalence of sin, yet also informs it about the purgatory effects that confession can have against