Nathaniel Hawthorne. Three of the symbols are the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the Black Man. The scarlet letter is a reminder of sin and makes up Hester 's identity. Pearl doesn 't recognize Hester when she takes it off and forces her to put it back on her chest. The Black Man is a commonly used symbol in the novel, he represents sin and evil on the world. Pearl develops into meaning the opposite of the black man, despite her origins she is one of the purest characters in the book. The narrator uses symbols as a way to explain characters more deeply while the puritans use the symbols to humiliate, generalize, and they threaten through the black man.
The scarlet letter is perhaps the most prominent symbol in the novel. It is viewed differently by Hester, Pearl, the puritans, and the narrator. Hester uses it not only as a reminder of her sin, but who she is as a person. Hester is not eager to take the letter off and says that God will take it off when he is ready. Hester takes control of her punishment by making the “A” look so beautiful, it makes Hester stand out not only because she is the only one with an “A”, but because she has a bright color while the rest of the Puritan community wore very simple and drab colors. Pearl views the letter very …show more content…
The puritans use the scarlet letter as a way to show that Hester is a sinner and they mock her as a result of her wearing the letter. The narrator uses the scarlet letter as a part of who Hester is and she wouldn 't be who she is if she had not committed her sin. The puritans use the Black Man as a representation of the devil while the narrator uses Chillingworth as representation for the Black Man. Pearl is used as an example of the consequences of sin because she is believed to be a demon child, the narrator however uses her as an example of