The riveting tale of the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that must be
read with a unique story between Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger
Chillingworth, Mistress Hibbins, and many other characters set in a Puritan society with an
outcome you would never expect. The author spins a tale that will leave you guessing and
wanting to read more as you read on. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, there are many
symbols that help write the story. Though it may seem like Hester’s ignominious A is the
main and only defining symbol, there are many symbols throughout the novel that brings
the story to life. Symbols are an important role in many books that engage the reader,
surprising and shocking the way they are being used. The symbols that are most important
to me and can be analyzed are the scarlet letter, Pearl, the black man, and the prison door.
In regard to the symbols in the novel there is room for interpretation as people decipher
things differently.
The Scarlet Letter is most certainly the main symbol of this book as a painful remainder
for Hester and the source of her daughter Pearl with the sin she was born into as well as a
daily signal to the townspeople that she is a sinner and should not be associated with. “This
woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die.” (45) The community first sees
her scarlet A when Hester is brought out of the jail with the whole community watching