Everyone today has a place in their lives, whether it is a place for peace or a place to express their true feelings and guilt. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter,
Throughout the novel, the meeting place at the scaffold presents the three most important scenes. It symbolizes shame and sin as well as sight of redemption for Hester. Hester’s punishment comes full circle at the scaffold, as it starts with humiliation and ends with salvation for herself, Pearl, and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne’s story begins when Hester is brought to the scaffold. During broad daylight, Hester stands for the crowd to see, a letter “A” stitched on her chest, glowing for all to see. Hester’s life is changed at this very moment. Standing face to face with …show more content…
In the Puritan society, the town served as a place to follow strict rules, to be judged according to your actions, and to experience a painful punishment if actions were disliked. Because of Hester and her sin, she found the forest as a safe spot for her and Pearl. The forest allowed these two to be free, to not have to worry about the thoughts of others, and experience their own lives away from the criticism of others. The narrator states, “This hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester’s mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering” (Hawthorne 144). Above else, the forest is a home where Hester feels she can take off her scarlet letter. In the town, she is known by the woman who wears the scarlet letter, but in the forest, she is a new individual and will not be judged by her actions. Pearl’s and Hester’s self esteems are boosted and they continue to be expressed through their actions that take place in this setting. The forest also acts as a place of romance and mystery as this is the place for Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale to be united. They both can be their honest selves, but outside of the forest, their connection fades away. The forest brings out Hester’s, Pearl’s and Dimmesdale’s personalities that would not be seen in the real
Throughout the novel, the meeting place at the scaffold presents the three most important scenes. It symbolizes shame and sin as well as sight of redemption for Hester. Hester’s punishment comes full circle at the scaffold, as it starts with humiliation and ends with salvation for herself, Pearl, and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne’s story begins when Hester is brought to the scaffold. During broad daylight, Hester stands for the crowd to see, a letter “A” stitched on her chest, glowing for all to see. Hester’s life is changed at this very moment. Standing face to face with …show more content…
In the Puritan society, the town served as a place to follow strict rules, to be judged according to your actions, and to experience a painful punishment if actions were disliked. Because of Hester and her sin, she found the forest as a safe spot for her and Pearl. The forest allowed these two to be free, to not have to worry about the thoughts of others, and experience their own lives away from the criticism of others. The narrator states, “This hemmed it in so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above, that, to Hester’s mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering” (Hawthorne 144). Above else, the forest is a home where Hester feels she can take off her scarlet letter. In the town, she is known by the woman who wears the scarlet letter, but in the forest, she is a new individual and will not be judged by her actions. Pearl’s and Hester’s self esteems are boosted and they continue to be expressed through their actions that take place in this setting. The forest also acts as a place of romance and mystery as this is the place for Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale to be united. They both can be their honest selves, but outside of the forest, their connection fades away. The forest brings out Hester’s, Pearl’s and Dimmesdale’s personalities that would not be seen in the real