Most humans have secrets they hide because they are ashamed of them, but others embrace these secrets for the better. The idea of society knowing the deep dark secrets that exist in life, causes humans to hide their faults, while some expose their sins for all to see. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, a young woman named Hester gets pregnant and is considered the adultress and whore of the town. Hester is punished by wearing an embroidered scarlet letter upon her bosom. The baby’s father, is a minister in the town who does not take responsibility and reconciles with his sin by self mutilation while Hester is an outcast and forever shamed. As, Pearl, her daughter, grows up she does not know the true meaning of the scarlet letter
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Hester’s beauty is shone through the love she has for her child, and the desire to redeem mistakes made. The narrator explains, “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shon out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (37). Again, Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery to communicate the theme of sin and redemption. Even though Hester Prynne was known as sinful and dark, her beauty showed through. Hawthorne is using images of the darkness of sin, in contrast to the light of beauty. Hester turns the physical scarlet letter that she is forced to wear as punishment into a beautifully embroidered object. Through the power of her mind she changes the letter's symbolic meaning from shame and misfortune to strength and shining light. The imagery Hawthorne uses causes others to notice her beauty and not only her sin. Hester’s beauty is the light used in the story, but the main sin of adultery is the darkness Hawthorne writes about. In contrast, the beauty of nature is set against the Puritan’s laws and beliefs. Pearl speaks to her mother, “Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom”(126). Moreover, nature also uses dark and light imagery to express. When Hester takes the scarlet letter off of her bosom, light appears by the brook over them; when she reattaches it, it becomes dark and gloomy again. The light represents the freedom she recieves when the scarlet letter is not holding her back anymore. The gloom in the dark forest is another symbol of the sinners’ dark souls. Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery to communicate the theme and conveys the relationship between Hester and all
Hester’s beauty is shone through the love she has for her child, and the desire to redeem mistakes made. The narrator explains, “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shon out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (37). Again, Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery to communicate the theme of sin and redemption. Even though Hester Prynne was known as sinful and dark, her beauty showed through. Hawthorne is using images of the darkness of sin, in contrast to the light of beauty. Hester turns the physical scarlet letter that she is forced to wear as punishment into a beautifully embroidered object. Through the power of her mind she changes the letter's symbolic meaning from shame and misfortune to strength and shining light. The imagery Hawthorne uses causes others to notice her beauty and not only her sin. Hester’s beauty is the light used in the story, but the main sin of adultery is the darkness Hawthorne writes about. In contrast, the beauty of nature is set against the Puritan’s laws and beliefs. Pearl speaks to her mother, “Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom”(126). Moreover, nature also uses dark and light imagery to express. When Hester takes the scarlet letter off of her bosom, light appears by the brook over them; when she reattaches it, it becomes dark and gloomy again. The light represents the freedom she recieves when the scarlet letter is not holding her back anymore. The gloom in the dark forest is another symbol of the sinners’ dark souls. Hawthorne uses light and dark imagery to communicate the theme and conveys the relationship between Hester and all