The Power of Light in The Scarlet Letter Essay - 661 Words

The Power of Light in The Scarlet Letter Since the conception of humanity, man has been fascinated with that presence which illuminates, yet cannot be touched. Mankind has brought it into his religions, giving it a great deal of importance in his creed. Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light as a tool of God that illuminates the darkness of human iniquity and exposes its permanence. He studies the psychological theme of the impossibility of eradicating sin from the human heart in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The use of light in order to fortify this psychological theme confirms its significance in the novel. As though he were weaving an†¦show more content†¦Through the narrators words, we see the Governors house as Hester sees it: ...though partly muffled by a curtain, it [the hallway] was more powerfully illuminated by one of those embowed hall windows... (Hawthorne 101). One can envision the brilliant sunlight streaming though the immense window, slicing through the facade of the Governors feigned sanctity. Is not simplicity one of the fundamental tenets of the Puritan faith? Yet Bellingham, the very person that passed judgment on Hester and her sin is laid bare to the readers opened eye. Here, light shows Governor Bellingham to be corrupt due to his improvident lifestyle. In his genius, Hawthorne defines light not only as a presence, but as an animate consciousness. Still acting as a tool of God, light seems to run away from Hester when she tries to touch it. Pearl, in her inexplicable intuitiveness, says to Hester, ...the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom (Hawthorne 180). Although Pearl makes this comment concerning the scarlet A, one may argue that the sunlight is actually afraid of Hesters sin, and not the scarlet A. In this case, light is used to remind Hester of her sin and to bring it to the front of her mind as punishment for herShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Scarlet Letter 972 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis of The Black Man In The Scarlet Letter Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. In the novel â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbolism is the main feature of the story. Symbolism is used throughout the novel to describe every object in the story from the characters to the rosebush to the scarlet letter itself. One of the major symbols in â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† is the black man, who can not only beRead MoreScarlet Letter Transcendentalism Essay1046 Words   |  5 Pages591). The vitality of nature’s power is one of the fundamental pillars of Transcendentalism. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter mirrors this concept, nature playing a vital role in the story from cover to cover. 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