The Scarlet Letter is a great book with meaningful symbolism. It can be hard to determine the real meaning of objects, but if you look closely, you can catch them. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict good and evil among the characters Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
Hester Prynne’s relationship with the sunlight represents her transformation from a sinner, to a good person in society’s eyes. In the beginning of the book, when Pearl tells Hester that the sunlight should be given to her to play with Hester responds, “No, my little Pearl! Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!” (Hawthorne 95). This symbolism represents Hester’s lack of innocence and it …show more content…
Usually determined by what he is feeling on the inside, controls much of his personality and health. At the end of the book, Dimmesdale discovers that, “Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a death-like slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance that it overflows upon the outward world.” (Hawthorne 186). After rekindling his love with Hester, Dimmesdale is so happy it creates a sunshine about him that makes him seem like a different person. Even with his sin, his love for Hester is so great that it completely changes his demeanor. He becomes a different person, experiencing temptations that he had never felt before. In the middle of the book, Dimmesdale tries to confess his sin, “More than once, he had cleared his throat, and drawn in the long, deep, and tremulous breath, which, when sent forth again, would come burdened with the black secret of his soul.” (Hawthorne 132). His guilt had been slowly eating him up. He can feel the black in his soul slowly get bigger and bigger, which decreases his health every day. He wants to confess so badly, that he physically punishes himself. The only reason he does not confess, is that he would rather die than bare the shame of being publically known as a sinner. The internal struggle represents Dimmesdale’s personality and its control over his
Hester Prynne’s relationship with the sunlight represents her transformation from a sinner, to a good person in society’s eyes. In the beginning of the book, when Pearl tells Hester that the sunlight should be given to her to play with Hester responds, “No, my little Pearl! Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!” (Hawthorne 95). This symbolism represents Hester’s lack of innocence and it …show more content…
Usually determined by what he is feeling on the inside, controls much of his personality and health. At the end of the book, Dimmesdale discovers that, “Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a death-like slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance that it overflows upon the outward world.” (Hawthorne 186). After rekindling his love with Hester, Dimmesdale is so happy it creates a sunshine about him that makes him seem like a different person. Even with his sin, his love for Hester is so great that it completely changes his demeanor. He becomes a different person, experiencing temptations that he had never felt before. In the middle of the book, Dimmesdale tries to confess his sin, “More than once, he had cleared his throat, and drawn in the long, deep, and tremulous breath, which, when sent forth again, would come burdened with the black secret of his soul.” (Hawthorne 132). His guilt had been slowly eating him up. He can feel the black in his soul slowly get bigger and bigger, which decreases his health every day. He wants to confess so badly, that he physically punishes himself. The only reason he does not confess, is that he would rather die than bare the shame of being publically known as a sinner. The internal struggle represents Dimmesdale’s personality and its control over his