Theme Of Imperfection In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne was an author in the 1860’s. Obsessed with writing about Puritan society, he wrote a romance novel in 1850 set in a 1600’s Puritan town. In this novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne used the symbolism of the Wild Rose Bush, Pearl, and the Sunlight in the Forest to contribute to the overall theme of imperfection. First off, Hawthorne uses the Wild Rose Bush to contribute to the theme of imperfection. The rose bush holds beautiful blossoming flowers, but each flower is held up by a stem containing painful thorns. This shows the evil that goes along with every good thing. Hawthorne explains, “But, on one side of the portal and rooted almost at the threshold, was a Wild Rose Bush, covered in this month of June, with …show more content…
The Sunlight is the innocence shining through the evil nature of the Forest. When in the forest with her mother, Pearl exclaims, “Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 165). Pearl is saying that since Hester has committed the sin of adultery, she is no longer innocent and pure thus she cannot stand in the Sunlight. The fact that Hester cannot stand in the Sunlight because of her sin, it shows that the Sunlight is purity and innocence. A few chapters later, Hester meets with Dimmsdale, Pearl’s father, to convince him to run away. Dimmsdale is full of guilt and will not admit his sin of adultery. After emerging from the Forest, the witch lady asks him, “So, Reverend sir, you have made a visit into the forest. The next time, I pray, you to allow me only a fair warning and I shall be proud to bear you company (Hawthorne 198). This quote explains that the which lady wanted to go into the forest to do evil things. The forest is a place to go to do wild and evil things. The forest is dark and full of evil, natural evil. When there is Sunshine through the leaves of the Forest trees this shows the innocence or good showing through the dark or the bad. It shows the imperfection of the human nature and nature …show more content…
The Wild Rose Bush shows that good and evil are found together, and both good and evil are natural. Pearl is a great treasure payed for at a great price. Last, the Sunlight in the Forest shows the imperfections in nature and human nature. All of these symbols thow the good and evil in all things. Everything in this book is imperfect and even though the story and its characters are evil and sad the book has an overall good moral lesson and shows that everything has its own

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