The Rosebush In The Scarlet Letter

Everyday people sin, and the sun comes up the next day. When a sinner walks down the street, they might see a rosebush after a long day of yelling at coworkers or some other terrible deed. After causing someone else grief, they still get some beauty from the world. The rosebush in the story is used to display nature’s grace and, the sun is used for freedom when it shines down on one. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses the rosebush outside of the prison and the sun shining on characters as symbols for the theme that sins can be forgiven. On this note, using a rosebush, Hawthorne shows the wonderful effects that can happen after sinning. The rosebush coming up from the ground in front of a prison shows that the criminals still get to see one last mark of beauty even after all their mistakes. When the narrator is describing when a person goes into the prison he describes the rosebush “with its delicate gems […] their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity …show more content…
Referring to the letter “A”, Hester was in the forest and Mrs. Higgins is talking to her , “[they] may all see it in the sunshine; and it glows like a red flame in the dark. Thou wearest it openly” (237). The letter represents the sin she made and how people see her, but she also received a beautiful daughter out of the mistake which was her blessing. When the sun hit her, it brought attention to her sin. Another example was when she was in the forest with Dimmesdale and “at once a shadow and a light in its abundance, and imparting the charm of softness to her features” (199). The sun is symbolizing the acceptance of her when she lets her guard down and can be happy for a change. Overall the sun represents that even after Hester’s sin, the light shows the innocence that she still has deep