As the novel has unfortunately come to its end, most reader's can narrowly identify that Hester's decisions throughout the events that occurred provided a basis to its effect. In a broad sense, I think the letter A literally shows the significance of how Hester Prynne took her own path on embroidering the scarlet letter into a beautiful symbol that reveals self-confidence within herself, rather than what the Puritan society expected as being a sign of shame in an opposite path. It can also signify a comparison between the way that Hester is proud of her difference, and the fact that certain individuals in today's society show self-pride on what they believe should be, just like Hester. From an abstract perspective of the novel, if you really look at an “A”, each of the two diagonal lines convey not only Hester's feelings throughout the novel, but also what some modern people feel about certain things such as sexuality,patriotism, and in this case, sin. Thus, these two diagonals lead up to the top of the letter, which shows similarity in the concept. The horizontal line between them additionally portrays how each idea can be linked to one another. Isn't it weird how this point of view corresponds to the novel? I wonder if Hawthorne ever thought of it in that way.
Perhaps without Hester's “I don't care” attitude in the start of the novel, the moral of the story wouldn't be to not let society internally control you, but instead vice versa. Just like today, many groups of people who support same sex marriage, show true nationalism towards their country, and different types of religion, are known to be shameful to others. Those who belong in the particular groups usually show their faith through symbolism, like how the “A” is shown in a special way. In comparison to the novel, I think the appearance of the characters play a major role in what it says about them. It can show both social status and attractiveness. Therefore, I loudly applaud Hester for the type of hero that she is by getting out of her own comfort zone. Not only that, I enjoyed how Chillingworth was portrayed like he believed in a demonic faith as if he was a real person, and how Dimmesdale was potrayed as a religious man trying to find his faith, like other people. As for Pearl, I honestly don't know. However, within the finale of death and moving on, the A should also be a sign to remind the people of forgiveness.
Overall, I am surprised to say that Hawthorne has blown my mind to the extent of first loathing the book due to what I believed had a demonic nature, into turning out to be good story because of all the symbolism that I would had never guessed the meaning of until it was taught to me. Although most people may still not like it,The Scarlet Letter has truly made an impact in my life. I mean, no two people ever read the same book right? Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”
-Bea Saptang
Perhaps without Hester's “I don't care” attitude in the start of the novel, the moral of the story wouldn't be to not let society internally control you, but instead vice versa. Just like today, many groups of people who support same sex marriage, show true nationalism towards their country, and different types of religion, are known to be shameful to others. Those who belong in the particular groups usually show their faith through symbolism, like how the “A” is shown in a special way. In comparison to the novel, I think the appearance of the characters play a major role in what it says about them. It can show both social status and attractiveness. Therefore, I loudly applaud Hester for the type of hero that she is by getting out of her own comfort zone. Not only that, I enjoyed how Chillingworth was portrayed like he believed in a demonic faith as if he was a real person, and how Dimmesdale was potrayed as a religious man trying to find his faith, like other people. As for Pearl, I honestly don't know. However, within the finale of death and moving on, the A should also be a sign to remind the people of forgiveness.
Overall, I am surprised to say that Hawthorne has blown my mind to the extent of first loathing the book due to what I believed had a demonic nature, into turning out to be good story because of all the symbolism that I would had never guessed the meaning of until it was taught to me. Although most people may still not like it,The Scarlet Letter has truly made an impact in my life. I mean, no two people ever read the same book right? Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.”
-Bea Saptang