Hawthorne's Use Of Symbolism In Puritan Society

Symbolism in Puritan Society

Questioning the power of love, as well as playing with human emotion, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter on the struggles of Hester Prynne, a sinner in a Puritan community. Hester is a young beautiful woman who was married once before, but because of a complication in her travel to America is separated from her husband, Roger Chillingworth, for three years. Due to this separation Hester has an affair, which results in a child. The novel itself contains many powerful symbols, including: the letter A, the names, and finally, the rose. Through the use of subtle symbolism, Hawthorne argues a hidden point within his writing. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to show that within
each person is the duality for both good and evil. The most prominent and obvious symbol throughout the novel is the letter A, which Hester wears until the time of her death. In the commencement of the novel, the letter is taken as a label of punishment and sin. Hester wears the letter upon her chest, and stands as an outcast in front of society. She is wearing this symbol to burden herself with punishment throughout her life. She stands at the scaffold where her punishment is given, “Thus she will be a living sermon against sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tombstone” (59). Society places its blame upon this woman. It is because of this letter that Hester’s life has changed. The letter’s meaning in Puritan society banishes her from her normal life. It is a sign of adultery and

penance. It brings about Hester 's suffering and loneliness but also provides her rejuvenation. However, near the end of the novel, the letter takes on a different meaning. At first, the community viewed the letter as a mark of punishment and a symbol to deter others from sin. Later, when she becomes a frequent visitor in homes of pain and sorrow, the A is seen to represent “able” or “angel.” It has revived Hester and changed her purpose in the eyes of the community. Nathaniel Hawthorne chose the letter A to prove that once a person is able to repent and forgive themself, a person is able to change and grow stronger. Hawthorne brings into play symbolism to suggest the events that may have occurred and create the nature of his characters. He uses the names Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl to symbolize the characters’ personalities and ideals. The words “dim” and “dismal” can be derived from Arthur Dimmesdale’s name, Hester’s partner in sin. The novel is implying that Dimmesdale is weak or undetermined. This definitely describes Dimmesdale; it took him until the time of his death to take any responsibility for his affair and seems to be the least authoritative of the town leaders. The guilt he feels causes him to punish himself by whipping himself, “In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge” (133). He feels so guilty that he let his weakness control him so that he whips himself. In the end, the guilt of his sin destroys him. He is a weak man who sins and won’t accept his punishment, and the hypocrisy eats away at him. Hawthorne chose the name and character Dissmesdale to prove that guilt can destroy a person, body and soul. One of the more dominant symbols in the novel is the antagonist, Roger Chillingworth.

As his name suggests, Chillingworth is a man lacking human warmth. In The Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth represents the devil. Near the beginning of the novel, as Roger Chillingworth first appears as a character, his symbolic relationship with the devil and sin is first apparent. He is first seen as a stranger of the new colony. After being held captive by Indians after he was shipwrecked a year before, he learns of Hester’s sin. Shortly after, the symbolic relationship between Chillingworth and the devil is first shown in Chapter 4, where he disguises himself as a doctor, and provides a new identity for himself as Roger Chillingworth. “…said Old Roger Chillingworth, as he was hereafter to be named.” (81) “The Stranger entered the room with the characteristic quietude of the profession to which he announced himself as belonging.” (76) After changing his name to Roger Chillingworth, and labeling himself as a great physician, he is able to deceive the colony. This may relate to the devil in the way that stories have told how the devil often disguises himself in order to tempt someone, or perform another evil. The primary and deadly evil seen vividly through Roger Chillingworth is that of revenge. It is his primary sin and problem in the novel, which eventually leads to his defeat and his death. What once began for Chillingworth as an act of vengeance, slowly transformed into a life of endless obsession. Hawthorne created the character Chillingworth to show that revenge destroys both the victim and the seeker. One of the most complex and significant symbols in the novel is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne. Pearl has several meanings in the novel. A pearl is precious, prized and rare, as is Pearl. She is the one that stands out as her own character and is always gleaming, as in the sunlight by

the lake. She is described as fairy-like and bright, and pearls have this fairytale like beauty about them as well. She is the only character who isn’t affected by society, and makes the best out of her situation. A poor child who in the end becomes a wealthy woman who is happily married…a pearl starts out as sand and becomes something beautiful and amazing, despite the unlikely circumstances. Hester specifically speaks of Pearl’s meaning; she is the pearl of great price, “purchased with all she had- her mother’s only treasure” (173). Pearls come from oysters, which aren’t the prettiest things around, yet pearls are prized for their beauty. The author chose the name Pearl to show that even though she comes from sin, Pearl still proves to be a valuable gift. The novel itself is filled with light and dark symbols because it represents the most common battle of all time, good versus evil. At the end of Chapter One, The Prison Door, there is a passage which describes a single rose bush next to the prison door. “On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined 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.” (56) The roses are a small but bold contrast to the strict, black and white world of the Puritans. The vibrant flowers offer a glimpse of life to the dreary scene. The roses can be interpreted as a beacon of hope; the one last symbol of freedom and beauty before one is condemned to prison, a cold, heartless place. No matter how long the prisoner is in there, they can count on one thing in their life to still be there when they get out of jail. Another way to look at the flowers in a more literal sense is that roses are

beautiful, yet they have thorns all over them.
It’s almost as if the rose represents lust, and the thorns are like the consequences. The rose can also represent Hester within her Puritan world. She is the rebellious and beautiful, yet dangerous flower which is intriguing to the onlooker, but different from the rest of the world. Since the roots are planted in that soil, she feels the need to stay once she is released from prison. Hawthorne chose the rosebush to represent the blossoming of good from darkness. Symbolism is a traditional artistic form; it also is a major feature of Romanticism. It shows the greatness of an author’s ability to supply meaning to his work. It also shows the pride an author takes in his work. At a first glance, a reader may believe that the novel The Scarlet Letter is simply a story of love gone wrong; however, the book clearly contains deeper meaning. Hawthorne’s purpose in writing the book was to prove that no society is perfect, not even the communities that claim to be. Within each society lies corruption and sin, the inevitable reality of human nature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter shows his greatness in producing a novel of the highest possible stature. The various usage of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter makes the novel a work of the
world.

Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.