Scarlet Letter
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Fredrich Diez once said "Symbolism is the representation of our heart's imagination through things of this world." The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an excellent example of symbolism. Hawthorne and other writers at that time were nearly obsessed with symbolism. The most significant and influential symbol in the book is the scarlet letter itself which starts out as a symbol of adultery and ignominy, and transforms into representations of many other ideas.
The scarlet letter is a symbol of adultery. In the second chapter, Hester walks out of the prison with fancily embroidered scarlet letter 'A' sewn onto her dress. This letter was given to her because she was an adulteress and had to wear it as a sign to the townspeople of the sin she had committed. During the first few years of Hester's punishment, the letter was a daily reminder of this disgrace. In chapter five, Hawthorne writes, "Hester Prynne had always this dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token; the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on the contrary, to grow more sensitive with daily torture" (Hawthorne 60). However, in chapter 18, Hester and Arthur are talking in the forest when Hester takes off the scarlet letter to show that she is no longer weighed down by it...