The Color Red In The Scarlet Letter

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Pages: 3
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Allison Beranek
Mrs. Moeller
English 11
18 March 2016

Color and name symbolism
In The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes many colors and names to symbolize moods. In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne uses the color black to symbolize evil and sin. Hawthorne uses black to show the pain that Arthur Dimmesdale endured because of the sin that he had committed. Hawthorne also uses the color black to show a similarity between the black man and sin. The black man in the forest represents the evil spirits or the devil that is perceived in the forest. The color black symbolizes a part in each one of the characters in The Scarlet Letter, whether it is death, sin or evil. The color black in the novel represents certain people, like Roger …show more content…
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses the color red to symbolize death, blood, sin, birth and secret love. The color red symbolizes the red scarlet letter that Hester Prynne wears for committing her sin. The color also symbolizes the red scarlet letter or “A” on Arthur Dimmesdale’s chest while he is on the scaffold, alongside Hester Prynne and Pearl. The color red is also a symbol for the sin that Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale committed. The red “A” that both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale wear symbolizes the secret love that they had for one another, and the love that they shared for Pearl, their daughter. Hawthorne also uses the color red to symbolize the red rose bush that Pearl claims she came from outside the prison. “The child finally announced that she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door”(Hawthorne …show more content…
Pearl is pure because she does not understand the meaning of the scarlet letter. Pearl does not understand why her mother wears it but is seen as evil because of her mother. Another name Hawthorne uses is the name Chillingworth, to symbolize dark and sinister. Roger Chillingworth was a dark and sinister man throughout the novel. Hawthorne also uses Dimmesdale to symbolize darkness and isolation. In the novel Arthur Dimmesdale is isolated because he realizes the sin that he had committed was wrong. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these names to symbolize the way that the characters acted throughout the
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