Hawthorne uses the metaphor of a “hieroglyph” to illustrate how a person’s definition changes with that person’s audience. Hawthorne describes peal as “the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret [Hester and she] so darkly sought to hide,” (186). This metaphor gives the reader a greater understanding into not only the character of Peal, but the novel as a whole. A hieroglyph is, “a picture or symbol that represents a word,” (Cambridge) or idea. A hieroglyph is often difficult to decipher and can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, the english alphabet is composed of many of the same letters as the alphabets of other languages, but depending on the language spoken by the person reading the letters, that hieroglyph…show more content… In this way Dimmesdale is a hieroglyphic just like Pearl. Through Hawthorne’s choice of metaphor, he reveals that Pearl, as well as the rest of the characters in Scarlet Letter, are hieroglyphs, whose definition is dependant upon the audience.
Using these principles, Hawthorne asserts that one can only become wholly themselves once they learn to negotiate society’s stereotypes. Both Hester and Dimmesdale struggle with the identities forced upon them by society and the identities that truly relate with. The “Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom,” becomes the defining feature of Hester, and has, “the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (1) as the novel progresses this becomes more and more evident as Hester is isolated from the rest of the community. She becomes, “the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman's frailty and sinful
