Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

¶ … Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Specifically, it will examine Hawthorne's use of symbolism in the book. "The Scarlet Letter" is an important work of fiction because it relates how people lived in Puritan times, and shows how unbending the Puritan religion was when one of its members made a mistake. Author Hawthorne uses many symbols in the book to represent the difficult times. The main symbol in "The Scarlet Letter" is the child Pearl. She represents Hester's unending punishment even more than the letter "A" she wears on her chest does. She also symbolizes the devil, and how the Puritan religion was so intolerant it would not even accept an innocent child that was the product of a mother's mistake.

A symbol in literature is something that represents something else to the reader, or the character of the book. It is usually something important that the author wants the reader to understand or recognize. Hawthorne uses numerous symbols in "The Scarlet Letter" to represent many things that happened in the 1700s, when the book takes place. Religion was the most important thing to the people of the time, and the Puritan religion was very strict. Therefore, Hester Prynne is punished for her sin in the book, and many things throughout the book are symbols of her sin. The biggest symbol of her sin is the daughter she had because of her affair. Hester is the main character of the book, and the Puritans in her town of Boston have discovered she had an affair, and so, she goes to prison. As more punishment, she is forced to wear the letter "A" in red on the bodice of her clothing forever. "A" stands for "adulteress," and so, people see the letter and automatically know Hester is a sinner, and so, they avoid her. Many people believe the "A" is the main symbol in the book, because it symbolizes the intolerance of the Puritans, as well as Hester's sin, but her daughter Pearl is also an important symbol.

Pearl is a result of Hester's affair with the Reverend Dimmesdale, and she is a constant reminder to Hester of her sin. She is a beautiful child, but she is quite different, and when Hester looks at her, she is always reminded of her illegal love, and the sin that keeps her apart from her neighbors and friends. Even her name is important, as Hawthorne writes when he introduces her to the reader. He says, "she named the infant 'Pearl,' as being of great price - purchased with all she had - her mother's only treasure!" (Hawthorne 109). So, Pearl symbolizes sin in the book, but she also symbolizes the great love Hester and Dimmesdale had. This love can never be acknowledged, but it is always there, and so, it is hard for Hester to look at Pearl without remembering, but she loves Pearl very much. That is why she dresses her in fancy clothes that bring out her beauty, and that is why she wishes Pearl could play with other children like normal children of the time. She is proud of her, and wants her to live a normal, happy life, but she cannot. Hester might be able to forget about the "A" on her dress, but she can never forget about Pearl, and Pearl is a constant reminder of how Hester's life has changed, and how she will never be accepted by the townspeople again. Her daughter not only symbolizes her sin, but her loneliness and her isolation. Pearl is a reminder in other ways, too. She teases her mother about the "A" on her clothes, and even makes one for herself. She often looks at the letter, and her interest in it always upsets Hester, and makes her even more aware of her sad and lonely life. She has lost the man she loves, she has lost all friendship, and she has lost her reputation. Her daughter is a living symbol of everything she has done wrong in her life, and no matter how much she wants to forget, she cannot, because Pearl is always there, and is Hester's only companion in a bleak life.

Pearl symbolizes the devil, too. She does not behave like normal "good" children of the time, because she does not like rules. Hawthorne says, "As to any other kind of discipline, whether addressed to her mind or heart, little Pearl might or might not be within its reach, in accordance with the caprice that ruled the moment" (Hawthorne 112). When she goes to town with her mother, she acts like a devil when the children watch her. Hawthorne states, "Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble, because they had so much the sound of a witch's anathemas in some unknown tongue" (Hawthorne 115). She is a brat, but the people see her as a "devil child," and are afraid of her. Hawthorne says, the talk of the neighbouring townspeople, who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the child's paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that poor little Pearl was a demon offspring: such as, ever since old Catholic times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their mother's sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose (Hawthorne 121).

This makes sense, because she was a result of sin, and so the people think that she is evil, and a sinner, too. She also has times where she acts like she is possessed, or is at least much older than her real age. This also frightens her mother and the townspeople, and makes them think she is dark and terrifying. They believe what they want to believe, and because Pearl is different, they believe she is evil. She is not evil, but even her mother knows she is different, and that is what is frightening to the people. Anything that is different is not accepted, it is alienated and ignored. The people believe that anything that is as different as Pearl is must be evil, and so, the devil must be her father. Pearl is caught in the middle, because she does not know how else to act. She does not have friends, and she does not have a father. Her father finally acknowledges her, but then dies, so she never enjoys having a loving father, and her mother was often upset or depressed, so it was hard for Pearl to know how to act "normally," and not like a child of the devil, or an "elf-child" as Hawthorne sometimes calls her.