The Scarlet Letter Symbolism in the Forest Essay examples

The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism in the Forest The path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest(179). This sentence displays just one of the multiple personalities that the forest symbolizes in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorn. As seen in the epic story Wizard of OZ, the forest represents a place of evil and delight, but in the Scarlet Letter the forest symbolizes much more then that. Each character brings out a different side of the forest, however the forest also brings out a different side in each character. For some the forest may be a place of sinister thoughts and wrong doing, but for others it is a place of happiness and freedom. The first encounter with the forest we have symbolizes just some†¦show more content†¦In pearls eyes the forest has a totally different concept. To Pearl the forest is like a best friend. It treats her as if she were one of its own. The animals do not runaway at her ever move, instead they come to her with open arms. The light is chasing her no matte r where she goes. She is able to run and play freely to her innocent hearts content. She can do that because her heart is innocent and the forest recognizes that. When reading this book you can look deeper into the forest and find more powerful symbols inside. The sunlight is one of the most obvious of them all. While Pearl plays in the forest the sunlight seems to find her no matter where she is standing. At the same time it will not cast a single glimmer of light onto Hester, until she removes her scarlet letter. Then at that point the sun breaks through the dense trees and gazes upon her. The light is a symbol of purity and truth. It does not shine on Hester when she has the letter because the letter itself is not pure, even though everything underneath the letter has become pure through the years. The Brooke that runs through the forest is also full of symbolism. At one point of the story the Brooke represents a wall. Then strange child, why does thou not come to me?(205) asks Hester. She explains that she will not cross the Brooke because she Hester is not wearing her letter. To Dimmesdale the Brooke then becomes a boundary between two worlds, a world of peace and freedomShow MoreRelatedSymbolism Of Forest And The Scarlet Letter1051 Words   |  5 PagesSymbolism of Forest’s Aspects in Relation to the scarlet l`etter A In the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne discusses the hurdles Hester Prynne, the protagonist, goes through due to her sinful nature with her child, the mocking Puritans, and the past always creeping up on her. Often these obstacles appear when she is in the forest, making it a very critical locality in the book. Nathaniel Hawthorne brilliantly uses symbolism to convey how the three main aspects of the forest—the stream, the logsRead MoreSymbolism In The Scarlet Letter1247 Words   |  5 PagesSymbolism in The Scarlet Letter Symbolism is simply defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Symbolism is a common occurrence in literary works and many books use symbolism to express mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. As in most literary works, symbolism also appears in The Scarlet Letter. There is lots of symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter to convey multiple things and to express many ideas. Symbolism can be found everywhere in The Scarlet Letter and many ofRead MoreSymbolism Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter882 Words   |  4 PagesSymbolism in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter was a novel written in the 1850 s by a man named Nathaniel Hawthorne. Throughout the Scarlet Letter he uses scads of literary devices. 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She has a child with Dimmesdale, Hester’sRead MoreThe Role of Color in The Scarlet Letter Essay973 Words   |  4 Pageshistory, politics, and religion. In The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism through colors such as red, black and white in the form of sunlight, to represent emotions and ideologies of Hester and the people around her. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the color red significantly throughout The Scarlet Letter to show its importance of symbolism in the emotions of sin and passion that it represents. The first example in The Scarlet Letter is the red rose that is growing by the prisonRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter : Wilderness Vs. Society1259 Words   |  6 Pages Wilderness vs. society In the novel Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne presenting the idea for humans to endure the laws of nature and conscience, rather than following the laws of man, to fulfill happiness. The novel consists of a young woman named Hester Prynne carrying her infant daughter named Pearl. The golden letter A embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery, a vile sin which is looked down upon in her community. She encountersRead MoreJosh Lyon. Mrs. Voshell. Honors English 10. 6 January 2017.979 Words   |  4 PagesJosh Lyon Mrs. Voshell Honors English 10 6 January 2017 Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses symbolism, â€Å"the use of symbols to represent ideas† (Bell 10), affluently. The amount of symbolism Hawthorne uses could lead some to believe that The Scarlet Letter is in fact an allegory. Nearly every object in Hawthorne’s novel is symbolic. Hawthorne uses everyday objects and places to symbolize many main themes, concepts, and ideas in the lives of Hester and Pearl asRead MoreSymbolism Is The Use Of Symbols To Signify Important Meaning1305 Words   |  6 PagesSymbolism is the use of symbols to signify important meaning to things. These symbols could be basically anything in which a meaning is more than just the literal context. Hawthorne has several uses of symbolisms in his stories. Symbolism was very popular literary device during the Romantic period, where the object embodied some sort of idea. â€Å"The symbolism of his works focused on isolation and guilt of the individual, the uncertainties of good and evil, and th e continual hold of the past on theRead MoreABy Major Characters In The Scarlet Letter1202 Words   |  5 Pages‘A’ by Major Characters in The Scarlet Letter People have different cultures and experiences throughout their lives; therefore, they all have different perspectives of the same object. Various authors use different perspectives of people to make objects mean different based on how people approach it. Not only the readers see the object in different ways, but also the characters in the story. The Scarlet Letter uses various symbolism such as ‘A , rosebush, the forest and more which might mean differentRead MoreScarlet Letter And Symbolism1045 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scarlet Letter and Symbolism Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism in his book The Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is, according to Merriam-Webster, â€Å"the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visual or sensuous representations.† This means that the author was using objects to represent an action or idea. The symbols used in his book is either all physical or visible objects. Many