Light And Darkness In The Scarlet Letter

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In the works of many authors life lessons and moral obligations are always implied, they are evident through the works of Dickens, Salinger, Orwell and other great authors. In order to show us that, symbolism is used to actually allow these messages and themes to hit home. Symbolism in literature is the use of symbols to show certain points and main ideas by giving them a symbolic meaning in a literal sense. Many great novels such as The Scarlet Letter use many great symbols to bring the story to life. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols, such as Pearl, the scarlet letter, and the comparison of light and darkness to represent good and evil, as a way to show the corruption of the puritan lifestyle. Pearl in The Scarlet Letter …show more content…
Many of themes in this novel deal with good and evil aspects such as Roger Chillingworth thrive to seek revenge on the man who committed the sin with Hester. In order to show this, Hawthorne uses set scenery with effects such as sunshine to show the good of a situation and nighttime or shadows to show the evil of a situation. The sunshine effect is seen throughout the book but it is brilliantly shown in chapter 16 on page 180 where Pearl says “…the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom.” That showed us readers that the sunshine doesn’t shine on Hester due to the scarlet “A” on her chest, meaning the sunshine only shines on the good but not on the evil. A great scene that shows the representation of sin and evil through darkness is also in chapter 16 on page where Hawthorne wrote “The day was chill and sombre. Overhead was a gray expanse of cloud, slightly stirred, however, by a breeze; so that a gleam of flickering sunshine might now and then be seen at its solitary play along the path.” That was important because in that moment Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale where in the woods, so basically the mood of the nature were dark due to all being part of the sin
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