Symbols In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Different Sides of Symbols I always think that something means one thing, but one of my peers think it means something completely different than what I did. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlett Letter, is a tale of two tales. One side of story shows bravery and beauty, while the other side shows weakness and darkness. When looking at the symbols that Hawthorn used, it is easy to think they each represent something dark. But when one takes a closer look at the symbols, each end up describing something good. The rose bush, the Scarlett letter, and the scaffold each represent the imperfections in people. Each of these symbols though change and in the end represent the goodness that can come from something bad. When most people see a rose bush, they think beauty, elegance, and love. But behind that rose bush are thorns, which can cause danger to anyone. In Chapter One of the Scarlett Letter, Arthur Miller describes the rose bush as, “a wild rose bush, with its delicate gems, which might imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in” (73). The rose bush sits outside of a prison; the roses represent beauty, and willingness to live in a cruel environment. The elegance of the rosebush adds character to the sad and depressing prison all year round. The …show more content…
Same thing with the Scarlett Letter, Hester changed the meaning of her letter, but she still committed a crime and she had to gain their respect. Most people would just live with the crime, which is how it should have been. The scaffold was sued to release their sin, and also allows people to judge you for your crime. When someone stands on that scaffold, their giving people a chance to tell them what they did wrong and shame them for what they did. All three symbols have different sides and it is their choice to decide what they want to make out of