Symbols In The Scarlett Letter

Much like everything in life symbols too change meanings as time progresses and characters develop. The evolution of these symbols is relative to how all the characters in the book change along with their opinions of that symbol. Some stories are riddled with symbols and metaphors but only one of them is the main focus of the tale. In The Scarlet Letter the meaning of the “A” on Hester chest evolves throughout the story to mean different things to the different people who view it. In the beginning the “A” is viewed as nothing more than a mark of an adulteress, but as the story continues the meaning changes in the townspeople, Hester, and even the author himself. In the time that this story took place, adultery was one of the most shameful sins anyone could commit, and in some cases was met with execution after it was made a capital crime in 1631. Hester’s fate was far less extreme than sever whippings or death, but as she wore the letter “A” that she was forced to wear at all times, the townspeople around her looked at the letter as a clear sign that she was an adulteress in the beginning. While the story progresses the women in the town are growing more and more curious about who the actual father of Pearl really is, and they began to …show more content…
The people forget about what the “A” originally means and apply their own views to it. The people who had never met Hester and had only heard stories of her only knew of her great strength during the times that she was ostracized. Hester never got rid of her “A” even when she had the opportunity to because she knew she needed to be punished for her sin. Instead of dwelling on the letter she used the “A” to do good works thus making her altruistic in her charitable deeds for the women who went through what she