The-Symbolic-Meaning-of“A”-in-scarlet-letter

1、The Symbolic Meaning of“A” in scarlet letterThesis Statement:The scarlet letter“A”as a main symbol, which has different symbolic meanings according to different peoples views and different periods, shows great significance in developing and elaborating the theme of the

2、book, The Scarlet Letter.A brief introduction to The Scarlet Letter1.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), the author, is a great writer in American literary history.2.The main plot of The Scarlet Letter is a tragic live story in the colonial times in Boston.3.The theme of the novel is the conflict of th

3、e human heart with itself and how to deal with the sin on ones act and the sin on ones soul.Symbols in The Scarlet letter.1.The scarlet letter“A”,the main symbol in The Scarlet Letter ,was endowed with plentiful meanings.2.In The Scarlet Letter, there are many other symbols.A. The rusty prison-door

4、means the darkness of that times.B. Rose-bush, fragrance and fragile beauty stand for the light of hope in America.CA deformed man has abnormal soul.Different interpretations of the symbol “A”.1.Different periods have different meanings.A. At the beginning, the letter“A”stands for“adultery”or“adulte

5、ress”.B. After many years of hard work, the letter“A”means“Angel”.    C. For Hesters kindness and honesty, the letter“A”means“Angel”.2.Different people have their own ideas on the symbol “A”.A. To Hester, it is the moral sin in a public way.B. To Dimmensdale, it tortures his soul and

6、his heart.C. To Chillingworth, it indicates his shame and he can get unlimited power for his revenge.3.Pearl is more of a symbol than a character. To a great extent, she is a living “A”.A. To Hester, she is the fruit of human love and physical passion.B. To Dimmensdale, she is a reminder of his sin.

7、C. To Chilingworth, she is an unforgettable shame and the motivation to take his revenge. The symbol has its great significance.1. Symbolism is a literary device which is wed frequently to indicate the authors opinion.2. The use of symbols can make the characters more lively and understandable.3. It

8、 can let the readers become imaginative and stimulate their interest.4. It is very helpful to develop the theme and give deep impression on readers mind. Conclusion.     Plentiful meanings of the scarlet “A” expresses the intention of writing and gives readers more space to imagi

9、ne.The Symbolic Meaning of“A”inThe Scarlet Letter and Its Function.Introduction   Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864) is one of the most famous, interesting, ambivalent writers in American Literature of Romanticism period. He is also a productive novelist with an inquiring imagination, an inten

10、sely meditative mind. Some of his great works are familiar to us, such as The House of the Seven Gables, Young Goodman Brown ,The Scarlet Letter etc. In most of his novels, they are full of the description of sin and evil. And in his eyes,“Everyones heart has his sin ”1“The sin of heart and soul is

11、more general than that of body”2Therefore,when you read his novels, you can feel his pessimistic life manner and his intention of preaching, especially in The Scarlet Letter.   The Scarlet Letter, always regarded as the best of his works, was published in 1850.As the first symbolic novel i

12、n American Literary history, it has been influencing American Literature deeply and significantly.    The story took place in new England in 17th century. It told us a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community were involved in and affected by the

13、sin. Hester Prynne, the heroine, was found out to have committed  adultery. She was punished before the public and condemned to wear the scarlet letter“A”in front of her bosom throughout her life time. When the mad throng roared to her to demand the name of the man with whom she committed adult

14、ery, she refused simply because she loved the man and cherished his life more than her own. The baby, Pearl, to whom she gave birth, was baptised by Arthur Dimmensdale, the parishioner who was actually the babys father. Different from Hester, Dimmensdale dared not admit openly the sin but was consta

15、ntly tortured by a sense of guilt. Doctor Chillingworth, Hesters husband, discovered who was the adulterer and made up a cruel plan of revenge to torture the minister mentally till his death.In the end, Hester regained her dignity and even respect from the community. Dimmensdale was mentally torture

16、d to death by his own sense of guilt plus Chillingworths vicious plan and only in the last minute of his life he revealed his sin.    In this particular novel, Hawthorne explores into“the conflict of the human heart with itself”3 and deals with the theme of sin and guilt. Just through

17、 describing Hesters sorrowful fate, it severely criticizes the injustice and cruelty of the Puritan way of life. In order to get this point, he used many writing skills, especially the rhetoric device, symbolism.Symbols in The scarlet letter   The scarlet letter“A”as the main symbol, it is

18、 endowed with plentiful meanings. According to different peoples views on the letter “A”and different periods, Hawthorne have depicted a vivid picture of the Puritan community. In this novel, however, there are many other symbols except for the scarlet letter“A”.Some examples will be given first in

19、the following two paragraphs.   The rusty prison-door was the symbol of that time which was dark and cruel. In this environment, there was no true love but hypocrisy of human beings. Because of this symbol, the whole novel was based on the tone of sadness. For the sake of giving readers li

20、ttle hope, the author had to have the aid of rose-bush and its fragance. Just a the author said:“Let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.”4    Another one is Chillingwor

21、th, an old slightly deformed man with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right, who was an unveiled devil in the novel. At the beginning, he was an innocent victim and liable to pity and sympathy. As a cold-natured physician, however, he designed an inhumane scheme of cold revenge and finall

22、y became the most hardened sinner, an embodiment of merciless revenge, vicious schemes and cold-blooded hatred. At last, his deformed body symbolized his abnormal soul which damaged himself.The Symbolic Meaning of “A”    From beginning to end in the novel, the most typical symbol is t

23、he scarlet letter“A”As a key to the whole novel, the letter“A”takes on different layers of symbolic meanings as the plot develops and people come up with different interpretations.    1.Different periods have different meanings    At the beginning, the scarlet letter“A”

24、is a symbol of sin and guilt. It means“adultery”or“adulteress”. At that time, Hester had no choice but to wear the scarlet letter on her breast, which gradually became her special sign. And for this scarlet letter, she was separated from her original community.“It(the  scarlet letter)had the ef

25、fect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.”5From the day she wore the scarlet letter on, there was nothing to Hester but ridiculous, hopeless and unbearable loneliness. At first, she was so frightened that she could not know how

26、 to do. But eventually, she began to realize: it was no use of worrying, evading. As brave and firm she was, she faced the fact and did what she could do to change this situation. In order to ameliorate the relation with community, she changed herself a lot and led a hard, insipid life. As time went

27、 on, she won back acceptance and respect from the villagers of various background through hard-working.“such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do, and power to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarletAby its original signification .They said that it meant Able.”6 Ther

28、efore, in peoples minds, the scarlet letter had changed its original symbol to a new meaning-Able.    With regard to the society which had deserted her and the villagers who had hurt her before, Hester had no hatred feeling but mercy, honesty and generosity.“none so ready as she to gi

29、ve of her little substance to every demand of poverty.”7“none so self-devoted as Hester, when pestilence stalked through the town.”8 Because of her persistence、endeavor and constancy, many people had been touched and began to accept the New Hester. Till this moment,“The scarlet letter had the effect

30、 of the cross on a nuns bosom”.9 Hester was not a sinner but an angel. The scarlet letter then was given another interpretation-the symbol of an Angel.    2.Different people have their own interpretations of  the symbol“A”    As far as Hester was concerned, the sca

31、rlet letter“A”was an external manifestation of sin she had committed. Just for the sign of her shame, Hester had strong willing to overcome all the difficulties and tried to be kind to everyone. And also, it made Hester more bravery and faithful. Hence, we can be sure it creates a New Hester while i

32、t tortures her. Meanwhile,“The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dare not tread.”10 Hester became a woman with full of the spirit of rebelling the reality which let her as a pioneer of a new era.    To Dimmensdale, although he didnt wear the scarlet letter

33、 openly, his heart had been withstanding great pain. He kept his guilt in secret and it made him sad, worried and disappointed. The scarlet letter in his heart like a bloody scourge tortured him until his last confession.“in order to purify the body and render it the fitter medium of celestial illum

34、ination,but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance.”11 But no matter how hard he was ,he could not receive a momentary calm of his guilty soul.“herein is the sinful mother happier than the sinful father.”12So when he met with Hester and told her “happy are you, He

35、ster, that wear the scarlet letter openly worn your bosom! Mine burns in secret!”13    Last but not the least, the scarlet letter like a shame sign warned Chillingworth to take revenge on the Minister. He became more and more cruel and got boundless power from the scarlet letter. The

36、faster he revenged, the deeper he blundered. At last, he did become a real devil. When Dimmeasdale was dying, he swore:“Thou, too, hast deeply sinned!”14     In this work, there is another important and striking character, Pearl. It is said more rightly and exactly that she is mo

37、re of a symbol than a character.     On the one hand, Pearl, as the daughter of Hester and Dimmensdale, was a sign of disgrace.“it(Pearl)was the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life!”16 She had the same influence as the scarlet letter“A”when Hester

38、 stood on the gallow. She wanted to hide the scarlet letter with the baby(Pearl),“in a moment, wisely hiding that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another.”17    But on the other hand, Pearl was different from the scarlet letter“A”.She was the fruit of love and th

39、e only property Hester had.“see ye not, she is the scarlet letter only capable of being loved”18 Just because of the existence of Pearl, Hester gained plentiful power and courage to live better. Pearl was her only living hope.    To Dimmensdale, she was a reminder of his sin. He loved

40、 her but much more frightened by her.“I have even been afraid of little pearl”19“That this dear child, tripping about always at thy side, hath caused me many an alarm!”20 Therefore, Pearl like a spirit, gave him happiness but more sadness and unforgiven guilt.    To Chillingworth, she

41、 was an unforgettable shame. Every time he saw her, he thought of the adultery between Hester and Dimmensdale. And in order to save his face and “dignity”,he took his revenge plan and got more and more power from the living letter“A”Pearl.Significance of“A”    Maybe someone will ask“w

42、hy had The Scarlet Letter been spread so widely and profoundly?”It is because of not only his literary grace but of his style of writing, symbolism. Symbolism is a literary device with which the author deliberately make concrete objects evolved into some abstractions, usually moralistic or philosoph

43、ical .It can make abstraction concrete, generality specific, ideology material. All of these features do contribute to the readers comprehension and can let them accept to the characters easier.    As regards using symbolism, there are at least three advantages. Firstly, symbolism can

44、 let the readers become imaginative and stimulate their interest.    When Hester was forced to wear the scarlet letter“A”,some questions may be raised in readers minds.“What does it stand for?”“Why must Hester wear the scarlet letter?”“Who is the other sinner?”ect. In order to find th

45、e answer, readers are willing to read further and become more and more carefully. And some of them will express their own ideas on the symbol of “A”. From then on, readers are attracted by this wonderful and moving love story.    Secondly, the use of symbol can make the characters mor

46、e lively and understandable. Lets take Pearl for example. Pearl was a symbol of the living“A”.She was innocent, lovely, vigorous, but sometimes, she also had a few absurd ideas in her little mind ,like a spirit, especially her showing a great interesting in the meaning of“A”.When the minister saw her, he was very glad at first and then frightened. In his eyes, she was a reminder of his s