Often throughout The Scarlet Letter there are symbolic references made. The story deals with a Puritan woman who commits adultery and raises an illegal child named Pearl. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, seems to be rather fond of using religious and natural images to symbolize different points, possibly 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 go against natural …
showed first 75 words of 492 total

showed last 75 words of 492 total
…understanding. Hawthorne mentions many qualities that the rosebush might have, but he never affirms them or denies them. The Scarlet Letter was a book filled with religious and natural images symbolizing something else. The use of symbolism on religious and natural images really expresses the hypocritical ways of Puritanism. It makes the reader dive deeper than what is just a physical reality. This was the type of book where the reader's own opinion is correct.