Throughout the novel T he Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne there are numerous symbols that are vital to the reader 's understanding of the story. The three most important symbols (The scarlet letter, Pearl, and the black man) all symbolize different notions for the Puritan community depicted in the book and the reader. The symbols may seem different in their first appearance,but they all work and change together by the end of the story. Although the Puritans have a certain opinion about the symbols, Hawthorne has strategically placed them in the book to foreshadow certain events and to comment on ones in the past.
The scarlet letter is the most important symbol in the book and it is introduced in the second chapter. While Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne standing on the scaffolding near the marketplace, he also describes the scarlet letter. “But the point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer so that both men and women, who had …show more content…
The foreshadowing starts when Pearl calls Chillingworth the black man. “Come away, Mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will
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catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already.”(Hawthorne 126) This hints at Dimmesdale’s demise near the end of the book, and the influence Chillingworth will have in the people surrounding him.
The three most important symbols, the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the Black Man, help the reader understand Hawthorne’s novel to a greater depth. Hawthorne has done a great job of connecting the three symbols and has made them affect each other from the beginning to the end. By doing this the book is easier to understand because he clearly shows the progress Hester made with the scarlet letter. Pearl and the Black Man were placed in the novel to point out some ideas but also to foreshadow events and the lives of the characters in the
The scarlet letter is the most important symbol in the book and it is introduced in the second chapter. While Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne standing on the scaffolding near the marketplace, he also describes the scarlet letter. “But the point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer so that both men and women, who had …show more content…
The foreshadowing starts when Pearl calls Chillingworth the black man. “Come away, Mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will
Gerontis 4
catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already.”(Hawthorne 126) This hints at Dimmesdale’s demise near the end of the book, and the influence Chillingworth will have in the people surrounding him.
The three most important symbols, the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the Black Man, help the reader understand Hawthorne’s novel to a greater depth. Hawthorne has done a great job of connecting the three symbols and has made them affect each other from the beginning to the end. By doing this the book is easier to understand because he clearly shows the progress Hester made with the scarlet letter. Pearl and the Black Man were placed in the novel to point out some ideas but also to foreshadow events and the lives of the characters in the