The Scarlet Letter Essay example -- Literary Analysis, Hawthorne

The trouble that unrivalled letter flock cause to so many quite a little can be described as nothing short of incredible. The power of the cherry-red letter can change a life, a community, and be a harder penalization than people will ever understand. In the novel The red-faced Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne gives the scarlet letter three significant meanings that are revealed through different scenes within the novel. The Scarlet letter was pushed upon Hester Prynne by a theocratic society, for a sin that she had committed with a man whose name she would not reveal. The theocratic society placed Hester indoors a jail with iron clamped doors. The jail was rusted, had iron spikes, and was decaying. The only sign of life this jail had was a wild red rose bush growth outside the door. When the prison door opened, she stood fully reveled to the town people and pulled the child closely to her chest and began to walk out. The narrator gives in detail the vision the people of Boston s aw as they looked at Hester, On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of grand thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore (51). The scarlet letter made Hester one of her own kind and separated her from the entire town. She was looked at as a sinner, being judged every time she walked into town, and was an example of sin. The scarlet letter made her different and the narrator explains, It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a airfield by herself (52). Hester was now due for the punish... ...for her committing Adultery. After this letter is placed upon her bosom she stands upon the scaffold in front of the theocratic society holding a baby in her arms and bearing the letter on her chest. The letter also means the same thing for Dimmesdale but his pain is placed within and leaves a burn upon his chest. Dimmesdale then sees a letter A in the night time sky created by clouds. As a meteor lights up the sky, the letter becomes inflamed with a bright red color. That same A is noticed by the towns people in memory of the governor and they believe it means nonpareil. However, as years pass and Hester begins to be a great influence in the city of Boston, the A stands for Able showing the strength that Hester endures. As one reads this novel, one can choose which meaning is the most significant and most symbolic, as Hester lives a life of ignominy.