Captioning, Writing, Descriptive Writing

Symbols and Meanings- Scarlet Letter

In the book, the Scarlet Letter, there were several meanings that came with the characters. There were also many symbols that were used with certain objects in this book.

First, one of the symbols that was used was Hester’s name. She represented festering because over time, her sin had affected the townspeople negatively. She also represented strength because of the way that she had handled the townspeople’s aggression. This was shown in the sentence, “with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors”.

As for Governor Bellingham, he represented the law. He and the townspeople believed that Hester’s sin should have been judged by God’s standards. That meant condemning Hester and her daughter to endure punishment for as long as they lived. This was shown in the sentence, “…when the forms of authority were felt to possess the sacredness of Divine institutions”.

In addition, Roger Chillingworth’s name represented coldness and evil nature. Before Chillingworth had gone missing he had cherished Hester and married her. Afterwards when he arrived back in the colony, he had found that Hester had conceived a baby with another man. Chillingworth sought revenge, and this was shown in the sentences, “Yea, woman, thou sayest truly!" and “Better had he died at once! Never did mortal suffer what this man has suffered. And all, all, in the sight of his worst enemy!”

Furthermore, Arthur Dimmesdale’s name literally represented dimness. In the beginning, although Dimmesdale had helped to give Hester a lighter sentence, he still hadn’t admitted to having a baby with Hester. During the whole book, Chillingworth was in agony in because he was at war with himself when it came to admitting that he was the father. This was shown in the sentence, “Oftentimes, this Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders, laughing bitterly at himself the while, and smiting so much the more pitilessly because of that bitter laugh”. With Mistress Hibbens, she represented Satan and witchcraft. Hester made sure to keep Pearl close because she didn’t want her to make a deal with the “Black Man”.

Lastly, the rose symbolized hope in the times of sorrow and suffering. It also symbolized salvation after suffering. This was shown when Hester was treated a little better after she had made several kinds of goods for the townspeople. People made sure to go to her whenever they had a problem. This was proven in the sentence, “. Furthermore, the sin in this novel was elevated to such an extent that had affected most of the characters negatively. The cost of sin in the book dealt with life, suffering, and death.

In this book, each of the important character’s names had different meanings and symbols. Also certain objects had played an enormous part in how the characters interacted with each other.