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Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism several times in the book, The Scarlet Letter. Some examples of this are when they talk of the scaffold, the brook, the forest, and the sunshine. The one that I will discuss is the sunshine. Hawthorne uses sunshine in the novel to symbolize purity and hope several times throughout the book. In one scene of the book, Pearl requests that Hester grab some sunshine and give it to her to play with. Hester then replies, "No, my little Pearl!
Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee. " (p. 104) Hester has no sunshine to give Pearl because she has committed adultery and is not pure. Another example is when Hester and Pearl are taking a walk through the forest when a dark cloud came over the sky and Pearl said, "Mother, " said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. " Pearl says this just innocently playing around, not having a clue of exactly how right she is. She says that the sun fears the "A" and avoids the impurity of it at all costs, even disappearing from the sky. Later in that walk, Hawthorne again shows how the sun refuses to be around Hester and her sin.
Hester tells Pearl to run off and catch the sun and so she sets off at a great pace and, in her innocence, she seemingly catches it and stands right in the midst of it. Hester comes over and attempts to come over bask in the sunshine and Pearl says, while shaking her head, "It will go now. " Hester replies, "See! Now I can stretch out my hand and grasp some of it, " but "As she attempted to do so, the sunshine vanished. " This shows how the sun, being pure, adorned the Pearl in her innocence, while it shunned Hester for her impurity. Hawthorne shows the symbol of sunshine best in the chapter appropriately titled, "A Flood of Sunshine. " In this particular scene, Dimmesdale and Hester are discussing what Dimmesdale will do about the current situation with their relationship. Dimmesdale announces that he will leave the community, and he must do it alone. In the heat of the moment Hester declares that he will not have to go alone, and she takes off her bonnet and throws down the scarlet letter.
Hawthorne describes it wonderfully: "And, as the gloom of the earth and the sky had been but the effluence of these two mortal hearts, it vanished with their sorrow. All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth bust the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf. " This sums it all up, as far as the symbolism of the sunshine goes, and it relationship with the "A. " As soon as the "A" is thrown to the ground, the sin follows with it and a huge burst of sunshine pours through the forest, making everything bright and beautiful. Hester's sin was washed away with the letter and she was pure again and full of hope, so the sunshine was no longer afraid of her, it embraced her. In conclusion, the frequent use of the sunshine, showing purity and impurity, is used well by Hawthorne. He does a great job of illustrating Hester's situation and how she goes from an unwanted outcast, when she was shunned by the sun, to where she was a good, able citizen and received penance and lost the shameful "A", and the sun would shine upon her again. Bibliography: The Scarlett Letter
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Research essay sample on Shows How The Sun Scarlet Letter Sunshine
