Symbol of Nature in The Scarlet Letter There are many symbols and themes in the novel “The Scarlet letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but one stood out to me. The symbol of Nature is used countless times in the novel and could mean many things. The two most common uses of symbolization of nature is to describe Light and Dark in the novel. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, used the symbol of Nature to also describe Pearl and the Light and Dark in her. The reason he may have done this is because Pearl was created in an act of adultery and some feel like she is evil but nature seems to see her as pure and full of light. The symbol of Nature serves to explain the dark and negatives of the setting or settings in “The Scarlet Letter”. As seen
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Light was seen in the quote, “Such was the sympathy of Nature-that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjected by human law, nor illumined by higher truth-with the bliss of these two spirits! Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world. Had the forest still kept its gloom, it would have been bright in Hester’s eyes, and bright in Arthur Dimmesdale’s!” (Hawthorne Pg. 139) This quote relates nature with truth, love and sunshine. Another quote that symbolizes nature with light is “But, on one side of the portal, and almost rooted at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imaged to offer 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 and be kind to him.” (Hawthorne Pg. 33-34). This quote does a nice job at hinting that no matter what you do Nature won’t hold a grudge and will always see light inside of you. Lastly Nature symbolizes Pearl and connects her with Light and
Light was seen in the quote, “Such was the sympathy of Nature-that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjected by human law, nor illumined by higher truth-with the bliss of these two spirits! Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world. Had the forest still kept its gloom, it would have been bright in Hester’s eyes, and bright in Arthur Dimmesdale’s!” (Hawthorne Pg. 139) This quote relates nature with truth, love and sunshine. Another quote that symbolizes nature with light is “But, on one side of the portal, and almost rooted at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imaged to offer 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 and be kind to him.” (Hawthorne Pg. 33-34). This quote does a nice job at hinting that no matter what you do Nature won’t hold a grudge and will always see light inside of you. Lastly Nature symbolizes Pearl and connects her with Light and