Literary Devices of The Scarlet Letter Guilt is a feeling with which many people are familiar. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester Prynne is condemned by her entire village after committing adultery and having a child. Her punishment is that for the rest of her life, she has no choice but to wear a red letter “A” embroidered into her shirt to ensure that she feels the shame of her infraction every day. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the scarlet letter, internal conflict within Dimmesdale, along point of view and the thoughts of finite characters to convey the novel’s central theme of sin and its partner guilt. He shows the reader throughout the story that a split second of sin can result in immense
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The novel’s name originates from the biggest symbol in the book: the scarlet letter embroidered on Hester Prynne’s blouse. The first time Hester was revealed to the public with the letter, the entire village looked on her with contempt. “ ‘Come along, Madame Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market-place!’ A lane was forthwith opened through the crowd of spectators. Preceded by the beadle, and attended by an irregular procession of stern-browed men and unkindly visaged women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment.” (Hawthorne 107-109). The scarlet letter is a representation of Hester’s shame after committing adultery. This symbol, a punishment device of sorts created by the elders of the town, is used to externalize the shame of the wearer, reinforcing the fact that the wearer sinned and punishing this person by exposing her inner shame. It also condemns her to exclusion from public approval and unprejudiced fraternization normal to the people without the burden stitched into their outfits. This symbol shows on a broader spectrum how remorse manifests itself in the heart and can torture someone internally, or can be alleviated through an outward confession, halting the compounding …show more content…
The book is written from a third person limited point of view, which helps establish personal empathy and connection between the reader and the characters. Through this, the reader can experience the guilt felt by each of the characters and can know how they truly feel about events that happen throughout the book that may cause feelings of anger and remorse. It can be seen how guilty Dimmesdale feels about his affair with Hester, and how torn he is inside, wishing he had the courage to admit his sin and at the same time wanting to keep it buried inside of him to maintain his holy reputation and social standing. As he is standing on the sinners’ scaffold in the middle of the night at one of his personal vigils, he is visited by Hester and Pearl. “ ‘Wilt thou stand here with Mother and me, tomorrow noontide?’ inquired Pearl. ‘Nay, not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which- with a strange joy, nevertheless- he now found himself.” (Hawthorne 307). For a moment, standing on the scaffold with Pearl and Hester at his side, he feels freedom as if he has already admitted his mistakes. But when Pearl asks him if he will acknowledge them the next day, when all of the village people
The novel’s name originates from the biggest symbol in the book: the scarlet letter embroidered on Hester Prynne’s blouse. The first time Hester was revealed to the public with the letter, the entire village looked on her with contempt. “ ‘Come along, Madame Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market-place!’ A lane was forthwith opened through the crowd of spectators. Preceded by the beadle, and attended by an irregular procession of stern-browed men and unkindly visaged women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment.” (Hawthorne 107-109). The scarlet letter is a representation of Hester’s shame after committing adultery. This symbol, a punishment device of sorts created by the elders of the town, is used to externalize the shame of the wearer, reinforcing the fact that the wearer sinned and punishing this person by exposing her inner shame. It also condemns her to exclusion from public approval and unprejudiced fraternization normal to the people without the burden stitched into their outfits. This symbol shows on a broader spectrum how remorse manifests itself in the heart and can torture someone internally, or can be alleviated through an outward confession, halting the compounding …show more content…
The book is written from a third person limited point of view, which helps establish personal empathy and connection between the reader and the characters. Through this, the reader can experience the guilt felt by each of the characters and can know how they truly feel about events that happen throughout the book that may cause feelings of anger and remorse. It can be seen how guilty Dimmesdale feels about his affair with Hester, and how torn he is inside, wishing he had the courage to admit his sin and at the same time wanting to keep it buried inside of him to maintain his holy reputation and social standing. As he is standing on the sinners’ scaffold in the middle of the night at one of his personal vigils, he is visited by Hester and Pearl. “ ‘Wilt thou stand here with Mother and me, tomorrow noontide?’ inquired Pearl. ‘Nay, not so, my little Pearl,’ answered the minister; for with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him; and he was already trembling at the conjunction in which- with a strange joy, nevertheless- he now found himself.” (Hawthorne 307). For a moment, standing on the scaffold with Pearl and Hester at his side, he feels freedom as if he has already admitted his mistakes. But when Pearl asks him if he will acknowledge them the next day, when all of the village people