The Scarlett Letter Analysis
Vince Gong
Mrs. May
English 11-3
1 December 2016
The Scarlett Letter Analysis
2. The jail is described as stained and downtrodden, this relates to its function in the community because a jail is a place to throw people who have committed sins. Like the dark stains/spots on the jail, society has dark spots which is represented by the jail. There is a rosebush outside of the jail and people attempted to explain it as a morality symbol for the prisoners (who are sinners). A rose has a wonderful fragrance and represents beauty, yet the thorns that grow on it pierces whoever attempt to touch them. Passion and desire … even obsession can be the dark side to the symbolic meaning of roses. Since greed and envy are considered sins and are the basis for most crimes, a rose would serve as a symbol of the sins committed. This can be interpreted as obtaining something beautiful always comes at a cost. It also could be seem as a petal of hope for people who are entering the jail, a last glimpse of beauty before entering the hopelessness of confinement.
6. Hester’s initial reaction is not one of pride but of embarrassment. However she comes to realize that by using the baby to cover up the A stitched on the front of her dress, she was just simply using an embarrassment to her to cover up another. It was after that moment that despite blushing, she had an almost defiantly proud look on her face, she had a dignified manner to her that nobody had expected of her. Due to the presence of many important people such as the governor and some officials, the crowd established a solemn mood. However, Hester felt that the solemn mood was causing her to get feelings of going mad. She has prepared herself for the scorn that she had expected to come, she felt that at least in those circumstances she would be able to repay them all with a bitter and disdainful smile. However that was not the case and despite her wish to be laughed at which she would have withstood, she was placed into a much more intolerable situation.