Symbols In The Scarlet Letter

The thought of wearing a scarlet letter for the rest of your life is unbearable. The scarlet letter stood for many different things like adulterer and able. These symbols are the most common things that the scarlet letter stands for because it says it in the novel. But, there are also more symbols that are not talked about in the novel. These symbols are more meaningful than the two common symbols. They show just how the scarlet letter really is now just what it means. These three meaningful symbols of the letter “A” are sin, shame, and grace in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. First, the letter “A” symbolizes sin because it came from sin when Hester and Dimmesdale committed adultery. The sin of Hester and Dimmesdale caused the letter “A” to be put in use. If Hester did not commit adultery then the letter “A” would have never been thought of. The blame can only be placed on Hester because the sin is her fault. She did not have to commit it, but it was a mistake. Everyone at the scaffold saw the letter “A” as sign of sin. For example, “Here, there was the taint of deepest sin in the most sacred quality of human life, working such effect, that the world was only the darker for this woman’s beauty, and the more lost for the infant that she had borne” (Hawthorne 53). This quote explains how the sin of Hester was one of the worst sins to be committed because she had to wear the letter “A” on her chest for the rest of her life. It also says how the sin was caused by her beauty because Dimmesdale only wanted her because she was beautiful. This sin wouldn’t have been known if the infant was not born. Second, the …show more content…
At the end of the novel, everyone viewed the scarlet letter as a type of grace because it meant show much to the community. The grace showed the purity in the letter. The courage of Hester made the letter “A” to be a type of grace. She was courageous because she was brave. She could have just killed herself, but instead she chose to embrace the letter “A”. She lived her life, the same way she lived before the sin was committed. After, Hester returned from Europe she took up the letter “A” when she did not have to. This shows how the letter “A” was a type of grace because she was willingly to wear the letter even when she did not have to. It also made the community realize what will happen if the commit a terrible sin. Therefore, it taught them to never commit that type of sin. For example, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world’s scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too” (Hawthorne 234). The quote explains just how the scarlet letter meant to the community. At the beginning of the novel, the letter “A” was bad thing, but at the end of the novel it became a good thing. At the beginning, everyone disdained the letter “A” because it was a punishment for sin. At the end, everyone wanted to see it and admired it because of how graceful it