Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Abstract

Symbolism is a literary device regarded as the most aesthetic device that the American writers based on in their writings; it helps them in conveying their messages indirectly in order to avoid problems that may fall upon them; so, they used animals, objects and characters as a symbol. In American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter (1850) is a worthy symbolic novel, in which symbolism invades all its components. In it there is a great deal of symbolism, it would be impossible to deal with all the symbols; therefore, I focus on the major ones and try to depict the different interpretations they stand for. This article explores the major symbols used in this novel.