Symbolism
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Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter
Symbolism refers generally to the efficient use of symbols in order to represent key objects, events, or relationships. Usually, symbolism refers to the use of ironic figures with particular predictable meanings along with being an important element of various famous writings. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is known to be famous of using religious and natural images to symbolize different points, mainly because of his own Puritan background. One of the purposes of this symbolism is to show that Puritanism is hypocritical and that their religious viewpoints are against the natural laws that exist today, which is done by using contrasting puritanical strict morals and religious symbols in the descriptions of Pearl.
Hawthorne states, "the child's whole appearancewas the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life." His statement means Pearl is a life image of the 'scarlet letter' which is there to remind her mother of the immoral actions that had taken place. The descriptions of Pearl throughout the novel reveals that the child was intended to be a living embodiment of Hester's sin. Since her childhood she has been mesmerized by the scarlet letter on her mother and enjoys playing with the letter. She throws flowers at it and reaches for it even before the child could speak. Pearl's interactions with other people also lend credence to the view of her as nothing more than a living scarlet letter...