The Scarlet Letter And Hawthorne

3 Pages 747 Words

The theme of the story is sin because Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth all have some sort of sin. Good and evil battle within each character and battle between the characters. Each character has some good in them, but sin makes each one evil. The scarlet letter is an outward symbol of shame, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. The letter’s meaning changes in the story. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.” At the end of the novel, Hester continues to wear the “A” even as she counsels other people with their problems. Leech was another name for a physician during that era. The word has two meanings in the story. Roger Chillingworth was the physician and “leech”. Chillingworth also was like the animal, leech, because he was sucking the life out of Arthur Dimmesdale. Chillingworth latched on to him, lived with him, and gave him strange medicines that made from herbs. The color red is used many times by Hawthorne. The reader sees it in the rose bush by the prison, in the scarlet letter worn by Hester, in Pearl’s clothing, in Chillingworth’s eyes, and in the streak of the meteor. Red means passion. It is a bright color that marks things and draws people’s attention to the object or person. Black represents gloom, death, and evil. The reader especially sees this in the frequent use of the term “Black Man” that means the devil. First, the brook has a melancholy sound to it, which describes the tone of the novel. The Scarlet Letter is not a happy story. Second, the brook separates reality from fantasy. It separates the reality that Hester and Dimmesdale can never be together from the fantasy that they want to be together. Lastly, the brook is water that cleanses. When Dimmesdale kisses Pearl, she goes to wash off the kiss. It is like she is washing off Dimmesdale’s sin. Hester was forced to publicly f...