The Letter a as a Symbol in the Scarlet Letter

Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form. In the beginning of the story, Hester is being punished for adultery, and is forced to wear the letter A on her bosom. It is shown so that people will know her as an adulteress. The letter A also gives Hester some supernatural abilities. When some women look at the letter A on Hester's chest, they make a face and look at her with disgust. Other women look at Hester and they seem to share something; "But sometimes...she felt a human eye--upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half her agony were shared" (79). Hester knows that she is not the only one who committed adultery, and having the letter with her all the time seems to give her an intuitive power about it. As time goes on, people seem to forget that Hester had committed a sin and see her as a lovely and respectable person. Next, the letter transforms so that it means Able or Angel. She is able to overcome her suffering and help the poorer people of the town. People are looking at Hester and they see her as a strong woman, and they respect her for that. "Individuals...had quite forgiven Hester Prynne...It is our Hester, the town's own Hester, who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick..." (149). Hester is protected from all evil that might be around her, and "had the effect of the cross on a nun's bosom" (149). The letter became a symbol of love and respect, and meant something good. Hester is able to deal with the townspeople, and they see her and have a new liking for her. They seem to forgive her for everything that she has done, like it doesn't matter, or it never happened. If Hester ran away from Boston, it would have shown her weakness. It would have shown that people of the town had power over her, and could make her feel guilty. Running away would show everybody that she was ashamed, and wasn't really good enough to live among them. Staying in Boston showed the townspeople that she was able to overcome her shame and that adultery is a part of who she is as a person. By accepting her adultery Hester is able to move on, having learned from her experiences. At one point Hester says: "Were I to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak of a different purport" (155). This foreshadows that the letter A might show up in new ways. The letter A shows up numerous times in The Scarlet Letter in many different ways. The letter is originally wonderfully embroidered with scarlet and gold thread, and is seen in other ways throughout the novel. At one point, there is a shooting star. Dimmesdale thinks it looks like the letter A. This symbolizes the guilt that Dimmesdale feels about not admitting that he is the one who sinned with Hester to create Pearl. At another time, Pearl makes a letter A for herself. It is made out of green eel-grass. The symbolism of this is that Pearl is wild, and from nature (the forest). Later on, Pearl is placing burrs on Hester's scarlet letter, and Hester does not pull them off, and lets Pearl do whatever she wants. At the end of the novel, at the Election Day event, some people even see the A on Dimmesdale's chest, and then on the tombstone that Hester and Dimmesdale share. The letter A is the biggest and most defined symbol in The Scarlet Letter through the original meaning of adultery, to meaning Able, to appearing in many different forms. We learn a lot about all the characters from their perception of the scarlet letter. In the case of Dimmesdale, the letter shows his guilt, but in the case of Pearl, it shows her innocence in the whole situation.