The Scarlet Letter

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Scarlet Letter and Symbolism

Red is the color of sin . The color is a symbol for the moral misconduct of the characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's novel The Scarlet Letter There is no redemption in the color except through the character 's own perspective of sin . That is how Hester , one of the protagonists of the novel is able to justify her embellishment of the red letter `A ' on her chest , but it is also the downfall

of the other main protagonist Dimmesdale . The sin in the novel will be explored in this essay . For consuming an apple from the tree that God forbid them to eat from resulted in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden . As a result of their actions , Adam and Eve became aware of their human qualities , that separate them from the divine . Forced to toil and procreate , two labors ' Adam and Eve define the human being . In the book , The Scarlet Letter ' the experience of Hester and Dimmesdale reminds one of the story of Adam and Eve . In both cases , sin results in expulsion and suffering , but also provides the knowledge of human meaning , therefore this knowledge can serve as a counterweight to this sin , but only if the sin is not perceived as evil , if it is perceived as evil then the banishment and subjugation in the novel becomes a burden to bear (as can be seen with the use of the cat-o-nine-tails by Dimmesdale in his closet , a type of mortal punishment that he bears with Hester , allowing his blood to be the crimson symbolism that unites the two in sin while one wears the color on her chest , Adam /Dimmesdale bears it on his back . The color red symbolized sin and passion in literature . Adam and Eve sinned by eating a red apple , red meaning sin , therefore even the beginning of literature is plagues with symbols of red , and their meaning of sin for the characters involved with the story . The community has forced Hester to wear a scarlet A ' across her breast , showing the Puritan town of her adultery , thereby making her sin a public display of interest the point of the red `A ' on her chest is to shame Hester into telling everyone who the father of her child is , but instead of shame in the `A ' Hester brings pride to it The following essay will reflect different symbols which Hawthorne used in The Scarlet Letter ' such as the `A ' on Hester 's chest , the color red as it applies to Hester as well as Pearl and other religious connotations for the color and the symbolism of certain moments between the characters which also has a tie in with religion

The color red portrays many symbolic features in Hawthorne 's texts such as it application to religions , adultery and the use of it as a symbol for sin (the clichy woman dressed...