Symbols In The Scarlet Letter

Symbols are everywhere in everyday life. Beginning before even before 1640, people in the newly established colonies were forced to wear letters on their chests for all of the public to see. People who refused were actually whipped and beaten to coerce them into wearing their letters. One particular letter was the scarlet letter “A” which represented adultery. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, the leading woman, Hester Prynne, is forced to wear an “A” for her sin. Hawthorne uses Hester as an example to the rest of the Puritan community of Boston, Massachusetts. There are many things that this “A” represents to not only Hester, but also numerous others of the community in 1642-1649. The scarlet letter is a main symbol for all of the characters,